This is me reporting. It is 8:31 a.m. inside the premises of Gandhi Smarak Bhawan. I just observed a hummingbird on the branch of a mango tree. I can hear the birds chirping nearby. Their twittering is soothing in what is otherwise a hot humid and harrassing climate. It has been suffocating in thelast few days. My pupil and friend tells me he had hard time sleeping last night. I asked him to speak without interruptions for a while he spoke about our surroundings for 12 minutes. Now some cows are approaching us I can also hear the sound of an airplane passing.

I am also supposed to speak for about 12 minutes and 5 minutes have already passed. I can see the Good Shepherd trying to sweep dry mango leaves with his bamboo stick. I salute him and ask his name is Ram Lakhan. He shouts calling the name of the cow. The name is Laali which means a Maroon or dark red hue which is similar to the colour of lipstick worn by women normally.

You might think that I wanted to speak about other things. I wanted to give feedback on what my students spoke about. And the introduction has already taken seven minutes. My student says that you speak too much and don’t let me speak. I told you already all of us are fond of our own voices. We all love to hear our own voices. And the truth is all voices are our own voices. But the ego says that the identity which is being exposed by it right now must be used to generate unique voice.

I am supposed to speak with a low pitch and Tempo as my student requested it in order to help him understand clearly what I speak. The key note of his entire talk was the date tree which I suggested him as the subject on which he should have spoken. I initiated the conversation with the most popular was spoken by mistake poet Kabir:

What is the use of being so tall if you cannot provide fruits or shade.

He told me that the fruits of this tree are used for making brown sugar in the state of Bengal. It has stems and leaves but no branches. It has a root which is white and juicy. It is rich in fibre and known as Gaava. Its Thorns are poisonous. It is a very useful tree for Handlooms and making brooms.

I might not have been able to cover that entire talk on this tree. But it is true that Mystic poet Kabir was not actually talking about the tree. As the discussion with my student revealed this tree is actually a very useful tree. The poet was insinuating the people with grand egos who have great achievements but cannot be useful to our society at large. I have taken 17 minutes instead of 12. I stop my talk here and proceed for the discussion with my student.