Sometimes, you look at something and wonder how clever nature really is. If she wasn't, why would she create such a beautiful fall in the North Americas? The places that are preparing themselves for almost six months of frigid cold could do with a picturesque mental image of the fall. Then there's the summer Gulmohars in hot, tropical countries. It would be an understatement to say that sighting a bright Gulmohar tree in bloom speaks to my soul. I started driving recently, after a long break. I never liked driving but now that I am getting better at it, I don't mind driving. One of the most distracting things on the road these days are these bright orange trees, drooping with blossoms, making themselves so unabashedly attractive when they are surrounded by so many ugly things (such as, college kids with headphones, on a motorbike!!). Some are spread out like an orange canopy, some, like happy couples holding hands high up for all of us to pass through a colorful tunnel. Some are single, standing upright, looking successful.

 The Australian Jacarandas used to remind me of Gulmohars in India, especially near Kolhapur. Now, the Indian trees remind me of Australia. Getting out of the city bus, trying to fight the monsters in my head on my way home, the purple trees would have an amazingly relaxing effect on me. It is a mixture of nostalgia and your incense-burning-hippie-yoga-genes perhaps. But more than that, I think it is wonder. As a kid I used to wonder if I could tie a swing to that tree. As an adult I wonder how, even though I have so many other fascinating technological distractions, these trees still manage to captivate my mind. I think my wonder has grown up too, but I am so glad that I can still feel it.

There are places in your mind where no one can really go. When I was alone for  long periods of time, I used to stay in those places all the time. But as you get surrounded by people, escaping into those places gets a bit challenging. Looking at these trees, instantly takes me back to those happy places of solitude. There is some sort of deep rooted comfort in observing how nature operates the Universe. How, she has accommodated human avarice and wastefulness. She does her best to maintain harmony and balance, even when her problem child is out to destroy her treasures. Then there is also comfort in knowing that everything, at some point, is going to die. It will be recycled as carbon, phosphorous and calcium, but there is a certain peacefulness in knowing that we won't come back in the same form, ever again. So all this running around, getting breathless over things out of your control, hoarding stuff, all of this, can stop. The purpose of life is to have a good time, with the people who choose to be with you in this moment. Who knows what happens tomorrow?