21/01/2020
The Great Banyan tree (Bargad in Hindi )is a common sight all accross the Indian land.The leaves are thick and the canopy is dense,offering the travellers a soothing shade to rest under.The tree offers shelter .They are smalto the animals,birds and insects too.Very often one finds stone slabs or concrete benches or resting places where people sprawl themselves and rest for an hour or two.
The fruit of Banyan is edible for birds and insects only.In praise of kind God,we have often heard the story of a weary traveller,who wished that the Bauman fruit were sweet and larger for one to feast on.He lay on a stone for a spell of comfy sleep and upon waking found the fruit spread in abundance all around him.He then realised that the Almighty had been kind to keep the fruit smaller or had it been otherwise,he would have been hurt by the falling fruit.
The tree on the highway in Bhelupur in Varanasi is very ancient rising to a height of some thirty to forty feet.The main trunk had a girth of thirty feet.A large mound was made around the trunk for people to rest.Some Sadhus had created a small shed,wherein to rest and have a smoke of Ganja.Though Bhelupur police station was closeby,and smoking. g***a was unlawful,it mattered little to the Sadhus.
My tutor Mahesh Prasad had a house right beside the road and under the great Banyan,and I and my brothers spent a couple of hours in that house on weekdays.
