MANGO OR GULMOHAR?
If you and I have similar likings, you definitely wait for the summer season. Don’t think I like to sweat during the hot summer days. Instead, I love the season because it brings the King of Fruits. Yes! Mango. Has your mouth started watering too? Well, hold that until you get your next share of mangoes. But certainly,we owe a lot to the mango tree.
Now if you talk about the gulmohar tree, it does not bear any fruit that you would eagerly wait for. But the tree has its own beauty. It bears so beautiful and vibrant flowers that it is impossible not to notice them. The bright red flowers are as good a treat to your eyes as mangoes are to your tongue.
But wait a minute. What about the neem tree? Poor fellow! It can neither boast of any delicious fruit, nor is it blessed with colourful flowers. You might think that the poor tree should only sit and cry over its bad luck. But it doesn’t; it shouldn’t. Why? It is because neem has its own speciality. Its leaves are gifted with unmatched medicinal properties which are extremely useful to cure various ailments.
Now you would wonder why a mango lover is talking so much about the competitors of the mango tree. If you look at the three trees, you would realise that they do not compete with each other. Each one has its own benefits; its own beauty or usefulness.
If they start comparing themselves with each other, will they not be simply unhappy with themselves? If gulmohar starts thinking that it does not bear delicious fruits like a mango tree does, it will only be filled with melancholy and dissatisfaction.
Now, don’t you think nature teaches you a great life lesson here? You may not have a quality that one of your classmates possesses. He may be good at cricket while you might go on to the pitch with just one target in mind – I should not be out on the first ball!Nor may you be as good at studies as that girl on the first bench who knows the answers even to those questions which you hear for the first time in your life. Should you be disheartened because of such things? Of course not. There is definitely something in you; something that you may be proud of. It may be anything.
Only you can know that. You might be good at understanding people and helping them relax in the middle of a tough situation. You may grow up to become a counsellor who can change people’s lives. Or any other quality that separates you from the other eight billion odd people (including me) who share the planet with you.
So, when they say that each one is unique, you need to figure out – probably all by yourself or through a bit of help from someone who understands you – what makes you unique. You are a precious jewel who has come to earth with a special purpose – to do something great for mankind.