Long time back I read an article that I recall now. Let me give a gist of the incident . There was this tree somewhat of the size of a huge banyan tree. To an onlooker it was far from pleasant yet it stood bold and firm, standing out huge and wide in the whole area. The grand dad among all others it was with an eerie aura encompassing it.
A group of 20 could very well get the shade from the scorching Sun and the unpredictable torrential rains. African jungles, so no wild guesses required as such. People out there have nothing to do with the outer world that’s beyond the boundaries of the jungle. Perchance an aeroplane should fly that way, that’s it! You see them running hither-thither or the courageous ones throwing arrows to flaunt a warrior’s spirit. Just in vain because the arrow gets stuck in a tree trunk or retrieves it plight and hurts one among them instead. Humorous as it sounds to us, yet painful to them.
It so happened that there was an outbreak of cholera in that region and people started dying. Since doctors’ were infamous and out of question in the deep jungles, the tribal people did believe a lot in witchcrafts. They were told that the only strange thing in that locality was the ‘grandpa’ tree. It did nothing good but stood ugly, elephantine and creepy. Majority agreed and the outcome we would imagine is that they might have cut down the tree.
Well, it was not the case here. They did not even touch the tree and it died within a week’s time. The tribe members had made a big circle around the helpless tree and would hail out abusive words for a long time. They did this repeatedly for many days and the tree lost all its leaves, the branches dried up and its skeleton stood gazing onto the sky. The healing rain showers also tried to bring it back to life but then sobbed in vain. The tree died an abusive death because of the harsh words thrown upon it. But then was the problem solved?
No. An aged man called up a meeting. He was grief stricken and told the tribe that they have done a bigger sin. The disease was because of the contaminated water they had been drinking from a nearby well. The age old tree that stood with pride and gave them shelter was no more. Nothing could bring it back.
The pondering incidence made me blink! If the use of harsh words can have a pathetic affect on a tree, then what about humans? As human beings, can anyone just count how many a times have we been hard with words or rude to someone who really cares for us. For no specific reason at all? Be it our parents, our siblings or very close pals. This has been an age-old practice has been passing on down the generation.
Good words and happy thoughts will always spread peace and prosperity! Even a negative word that we speak does leave a deep impression that keeps on piling up. It is not late to keep watch of the words we tell others. Some words register deep and affects more aggressively and intensely. A silent killer in a way!
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