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She lies in a forgotten patch of the vast grounds behind the building. The old sheesham tree sadly uprooted a couple of years ago by strong winds - she lies on her old, shattered back; her beautiful strong roots shrivelled and exposed, but still holding on to chunks of the soil that had nourished her since forever; her branches huddled together, criss-crossing each other in random chaos, naked, forlorn, unhappy.
She remembers the time when she was younger. Everyday, her roots grew deeper into the nourishing soil, doing their thing safe from the forces of the open world; her branches grew longer, reaching out to the sun, reaching out to her neighbors, playing with the birds and the breeze and the rain.
She lies still on the ground, shyly longing to get back to how it used to be. Parts of her survive against all odds, holding on to the few weak roots still deep enough in under the ground. And there, in a small crack hidden from the casual passerby, a small green twig comes to life.
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In memory of the old uprooted Sheesham tree behind the Hall-6 building in IIT Kanpur. That tree had more courage than anyone else I know.
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