The Hollow Oak Trees

“The greatest sin in this world is the refusal to think” – Ayn Rand.

-          A story

Since the dawn of time, there was a huge forest called Gower. Gower was the most surviving forest and was loved by all the monsoons, especially Blitz. Blitz loved the centre of Gower, which was full of tall oak trees, for it was those trees that brought the most rain for the forest. Each oak tree was so strong and so self confident that the centre of the forest felt strangely alive. All the animals and the birds there felt it too, and they call that centre Oaky. Something about those trees suggested a quality of self control that seemed almost arrogant. The elders of the forest were called Mahaans and the young trees were called Bachus.

While the rest of the forest changed over the years, the oak patch in the centre remained the same, as a fulcrum, a reference to gauge the change over time. Part of the answer to the riddle was in the grooming of the young. But it was not the whole. The other half of the answer lied in the ability of the Bachus to understand the message of their parents.

With time, Bachus grew more rebellious. Their idea of rebellion was to just do things differently from their parents’ way. They questioned every aspect of their way of living to the Mahaans, but were impatient to fully listen to the answers. As they were impatient, they wanted the shortest version of the answer, and they got that from their parents. Wisdom gave way to rules, and Bachus hated the rules even more. The origin of this mindless rebellion was the refusal to think, and this drove a wedge between the young and parents. As time wore on, the rebelling population grew in size and they called themselves Mandus. The population of Mandus grew while that of Bachus fell with time.

Mandus trimmed their branches to beautify themselves. They were tired of standing in one place and they kept shifting and dancing around the forest floor. Gradually their roots became dry and the dry parts were cut off to make the feet look more beautiful. Mahaans were ashamed of their young, and nothing they did improved the situation. In the beginning, the parents worked harder to compensate for the loss in power to pull rain. Bachus also contributed to the elders’ efforts. But, as Mahaans grew older, they became weaker and Oaky grew hotter. Then, the young started wearing sandals made from their branches, to protect their feet. As a result, they felt the high temperature, but they could not do anything as they had not stored water in their roots.

Bachus who were properly groomed were ordered to leave the forest by the Mahaans. The sight of the groomed young parting ways from the dying elders in order to live was a hard sight to watch. Over time, the wise elders died out too, leaving Oaky to hollow oak trees who were struggling to survive. The oak trees which once lived over 150 years started dying at the age of 40-50. The ones which attempted to escape to another forest did not have enough water stored in them to do so. Eventually, the oak trees were wiped out and Oaky lay barren at the centre of Gower.

Blitz, the friendly monsoon, had such fond memories of its favourite place that it never passed through Oaky again.