The Big Banyan Tree

Memories of my school days give me the most gratifying goosebumps. I was blessed with a lovely school in the 80's.

Though we came from a middle class family my luck was shining as my mom had joined the same school as a primary school teacher. And this allowed me to study in the school at subsidized fee. Otherwise the school fees were affordable only for higher middle class and rich kids.

My school was the gem of my city — Pune, INDIA. It had the most spacious grounds, two huge football fields, one of which was later converted into a running track. We had basketball courts and volleyball courts too. The location of the school was absolutely pristine. It was along the shore of a river and we kids in the school had access to the river after a 15 minute walk. Yes, and needless to say, the school premises were huge. My short and long breaks were full of adventure, from running behind butterflies to walking along the shore of the river, sneaking upon the stables to check out on the horses. Only one of the horses was my favorites.

Bordering the premises were horse stables. The school being a preparatory school for the armed services, lots of extra curricular activities were in the course. The school authorities had taken it upon themselves to take care of their horses. I was given an option to choose from Horse riding or Swimming. Owing to the love for the horses the choice was a no brainer. I only dreamed of riding my favorite horse named “Kalicharan.” Oh what a beautiful black beauty he was. The sight of his gleaming black coat and flowing hair used to give me such joy. We were told not to go near him because of his temperamental behavior.

In one of central parts of the school was a big banyan tree. There were two other banyan trees in the premises but this one in the central part was huge.
This tree was located in between the area which was accessible to the main gate of the school, between the two football fields. The tree had an enormous spread, some say it was fifty years old, some say it was older. The sight of the tree gave such a grand picture. The shade it gave was large enough to allow two classrooms (50 students) with more shade room to spare. Normally four of our full sized school buses were parked in its shade daily.

This banyan tree was a big part of my day to day school life. We friends used to reach the school early only to play on and around the tree. The banyan tree has roots shooting off and dangling down from its branches so as to increase its spread and allow for nutrition. The shoots dangling down and reaching a height of 6 feet above the ground were welcoming for creating swings and having fun. There was one certain game associated with this. It was Soor-Parambya. Short for Swinging the shoots.

Then there was the “Who can climb up the most?” game. The hide and seek, taking cover of the dense branches was a thrilling game. Such were the carefree days, no fear of falling down and breaking an arm or leg.

The doting the tree provided was unmatched. There were so many times we friends used to take our lunch boxes to the tree and sit in its shade to have them. This also allowed us to quickly finish the lunch and spend time exploring around the school.

The years flew by and we all graduated from our beloved school. We friends went in mostly different colleges and universities, some to different cities. But one thing was a common miss — the banyan tree. It was sorely missed. Later during our get togethers when we used to come together and meet our old teachers we used to make it a point to visit the tree. Just sit in the shade. Think of all the lovely moments we had as school boys.

Taking leave after visits were heavy but came with satisfaction as we saw the new generation kids having a gala time and the tree blessing them equally.

So long — my lovely big banyan tree.