Always greener on the other side

Six years...

When we moved in our current place six years ago, there was neither a single building nor tree around our house. 

Before it all started!

While rest of the city went ahead building...well...buildings all around us, we planted a motley group of saplings in a government land contiguous to our house and nurtured them till a point where they were able to be on their own (4 years that is). We would turn up with sticks in our hands, during  most of the mornings and evenings when cattle let loose by owners/herders would cross this stretch, trying to protect the young ones under our care from getting stomped...The cattle herders wouldn't be in the vicinity more often than not. So our task used to stretch till the last one left the place or the herder arrived!

It has become a happy space over these years, bringing in lot of sparrows, butter flies, dragons, king fishers, wood peckers, crows, myriad birds and insects, bees, squirrels, rats, cats, few snakes, dogs, cows, peacocks, peahens and even fruit bats! 

This lush green canvas with little strokes of blue sky is just a 

40 * 15 feet area after all!

2010

2016

Did I mention 'Cars'? Yeah...they too visit, sadly.

Though I wish more such spaces come up all over, I do think that a day would come soon when there would be a "die hard" battle between us for the one and only green spot in a hot hot hot road to park our rear (ahem...the car's) and even then we won't think of planting that life giving, shade giving, rain giving, giving giving, force of nature, ever!

Worst, even if nature tries to help itself (and us) by sending its agents to disperse seeds and nurture them with rain, we the living will chop them mercilessly to...make a living!, what a way to go! 

Sigh...the other side of life is always green. But we don't listen!