A Slice from History of Civil Engineering, Geography and Botany

A mason completes his day’s job at the two-storied building construction work site and goes to the river to wash his hands. It’s a well-planned city that he and his ilk have built, but it is regular work for the lot.

Meanwhile, clouds gather over a God-forsaken place at the other corner of the world. A little bristlecone pine tree in a far away continent, still struggling in only its first 100 years of existence and fighting a losing battle against harsh clime, gets a whiff of the moisture in the air.Methuselah oldest tree

Soon after the mason leaves for his home, the river in the east swells…and keeps swelling till it knows no bounds. The model city, that newly constructed house…and everything within and around those structures..they all are transformed into ruins within a sleeping night. Indus river will keep washing away the mason’s civilisation many times over….a civilisation that will be discovered nearly 5000 years later in the sub-continent.

The thirsting tree in the western continent gets a life-sustaining drink from that early morning shower and gets rejuvenated. This is its fresh lease of life, its interim relief to fight another day. Or another month. Another year maybe…and then, hopefully another 4800 years!!

Presenting the oldest trees in the world, some of which are as old as the history of recorded civilisation in the sub-continent.

About the Author: Angshuman Hazra works in the petrochemical sector in Haldia, West Bengal. His only love other than cricket, family, friends and his daughter Titli is music. He blogs here, as frequently as ‘Dada’, one of his many idols, bowls his seamers. He has occasionally contributed to Cricinfo as well.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.