Looking for the Pavarika Tree
In the ancient kingdom of Maghdha, in a village near the city of Rajagriha, Saurabha (meaning fragrance), a boy lived with his parents, Suvishnu and Rooprekha . (I love names from ancient India).
Every night Suvishnu would tell Saurabha a story. Whatever the story may be, it would always include Pavarika, a mango tree. Suvishnu would tell stories of kings and queens and their visit to the Pavarika tree. He would talk about monks and the Pavarika tree and he would talk about women sitting in the shade of the Pavarika tree. Whatever the story would be, it would always have the Pavarika tree.
One summer when all mango trees in Maghdha were laden with the sweetest mangoes, Saurabha thought of searching for the Pavarika. After-all his father had talked so much about Pavarika and its mangoes.
“Pavarika’s mangoes are the sweetest, most beautiful red-yellow in color, they smell wild flowers from the forest. Dear Saurabha, Pavarika’s mangoes are like honey and dew,” Suvishnu would enchant Saurabha with his description of Pavarika.
So Saurabha decided, this mango-season he would find the Pavarika and get home some Pavarika mangoes. One day when Suvishnu and Rooprekha went to Rajagriha to buy a new cow, Saurabha insisted to stay back and take care of their goat, Rupa.
“I’ll take Rupa to the forest for grazing,” Saurabh told his parents. He actually wanted to look for Pavarika.
Saurabh and Rupa went to the nearby forest. They searched through all the mango trees on the way and in the forest but no mango matched his father’s description of Pavarika.
“May be father told a lie. There’s no Pavarika tree,” Saurabh talked to Rupa while she looked perplexed at him chewing some grass.
When Saurabh and Rupa reached home from the forest, Suvishnu and Rooprekha were already home with the new cow.
Saurabh couldn’t contain himself and said, “All you told me about the Pavarika was a lie. There’s no Pavarika. I and Rupa searched the whole village and the forest.” Saurabh had his eyes almost swelling up with tears.
“You said Pavarika exists. Where is it? I no longer want to hear your stories. I want to see Pavarika,” he said.
Suvishnu looked at Rooprekha and nodded his head. Rooprekha came back from the backyard with a mango seed.
While Saurabh looked at him questioningly, Suvishnu said, “I told you about Pavarika. You understood it’s beautiful. You believed there’s nothing like it. You dreamt so much about it that you went in search for it. When you didn’t find it, you came to me asking for its truth. Dear son, I have already taught you everything about Pavarika. Since you now love it, your mother and I give you a mango seed hoping in your life, you’ll nurture and grow it into the Pavarika.”
Dear parents and teachers, I wrote this story with the heart and intention to share my following thoughts — Education is about sharing a dream with the child and walking along to help the child realize it. It’s not about imposing one’s thoughts and neither is it about supervision to ensure the child achieves a goal determined by us. To help a child discover him/herself, we have to first discover our own self.
Story by Venus Upadhayaya
