As I look out of the window from my writing desk framed by the large expanse of the blue sky, I see the once picture postcard scenario of white cotton-like clouds and birds moving in beautiful formations look stark and empty without the large ‘flame of the forest tree’. Its asymmetrical trunk and irregularly spread branches covered a wide area and was home to birds of different feather and hues perched daintily on each branch. Their incessant Twitter was ‘music to the ears’ while the bright crimson-orange flowers, a spurt of colour set against the green leaves, were a feast to the eyes. I hadn’t seen this mighty tree crash to the ground, struck down by relentless rain as I was out of town but realized on return that this wonderful piece of creation is now a mere memory. The more I see what remains of the trunk, and the small branches with fresh green leaves springing to life, the more I am reminded about resilience and strength coming from broken places.
“Broken trees still bear fruit” is a saying true to nature as well as other forms of life. Fallen tree logs may depict large brokenness but there are other types of brokenness that are so subtle that they remain out of bounds – unseen and unfelt. Loss and brokenness are part of life and relationships and we have around us numerous examples of people who have gained from loss. These people have displayed exceptional courage in converting irreparable loss into art forms that embellished their lives. Glancing through some inspiring articles about people who faced loss as I sat down to work, I saw the difference between those who never had something to lose in the first place and those who had and lost them. The path to recovery for the latter is much more difficult but not impossible. The stories of a chef who battled the loss of taste that spelt the end of his career courtesy of tongue cancer but fought back to regain taste and success, a brain surgeon who experienced a severe brain condition herself but used it to make her treatment more effective once she recovered and that of a dancer who lost her leg in an accident but came back to conquer the stage fitted with an artificial foot are enduring examples of this situation. However, I am truly inspired by the life of Dr. Govindaraju. Venkataswamy, founder of the famous Aravind eye hospital who became a path-breaking ophthalmic surgeon despite being struck by rheumatoid arthritis which twisted and froze his fingers out of shape like the mangled branches of a tree. “Infinite Vision” a book on his life by Pavitra Mehta and Suchitra Shenoy outlines the story of the doctor better known as Dr. ’V’ who enrolled in the field of ophthalmology and trained himself to use his twisted fingers to cut and operate the eye with great skill and dexterity. In the course of his career, he performed over 100, 000 sight-restoring eye surgeries and left behind an institution of excellence that is renowned for its eye care. Stories of such people inspire us to use loss to gain more insights from life and make it worthwhile. The ‘Tree of Life’ is designed to withstand all seasons and emerge stronger from broken places, bearing fruit no matter what. I now see the future where crimson flowers will bloom again and the birds perched on its branches sing happy tunes.