Episode 2

Mr. Mango tree

To the right end, the mango tree stood majestically at the age of late 60s. No one could see the top end and no one dare to climb on him. He is the patriarch of the family, a host.

 A termite colony on the side of the root bulged out from the soil; there starts an ant trail to the holes under the lowest offshoot. Next, to those, there is a larger hole mostly occupied by an owl, and a squirrel. A woodpecker, the craftsman, never fails to come to chisel on the bark every morning. A gentle sway of the branches usually interrupts the nap time of brown birds. Some odd looking creepers have started to grow one of the branches. At dawn, bats come one by one spreading their black coat against the sky. Even, mangoes are not spared from the encroachment, either by bats or the big fat worm. Mr.Mango tree sees everything quietly as a monk.

 He became silent with age.

 During summer vacations, the girl in the yellow petticoat runs to collect the half-eaten mangoes and throws away in despair, and with a loud scream. The only time she gets a ripened mango when big mustached people comes and pick mangoes from the tallest branch, that too slightly sour, face muscles scrunched up while eating those. The mangoes take shapes in different forms in lot more different vessels in the home. Some taste sweet, some sour, some in the form of curry and a lot turns out to dry out like a twig.

 After school, the girl in yellow petticoat takes a run around Mr. Mango tree. Mostly she struggles to touch the fingers tips hugging Mr. Mango tree. 

Never could.

Instead, she used to rip off the loosened bark. She has a huge collection of tiny mangoes falling down from him.

 Nights during mango season are interrupted by the sound.'Thud!' Following mornings chats are on the tiles scattered along with the thud sound. All the big ones in the home shush shush about Mr. Mango tree.

One fine morning, when she left for school many big mustached people came to the home with some weird large tools. Some of them stood little away from Mr.Mango tree, tied hand to back, furiously thinking big matters. And few others try to hug as she tries to hug him. 

They can easily hug him.

After school, she came early, stepped on to the front yard rubbing her eyes, air is choking with dust. A beam of light from the west lit tiny particles of dust. She surveyed around her. Two big mustached are lying on the ground over the stained faded red towel, another having a quick conversation with her Achan. To the right end of the yard, there remains the giant emptiness. The brown birdies perched on the iron gate. Large black wings of bats circled around on the sky.  For the first time, she is seeing the long hard toes of the root of Mr. Mango tree. Girl in yellow petticoat looked up. The sky is getting dark.