The Cherry Tree

1. Introduction & Planting the Seed

• ✿Six-year-old Rakesh lives with his grandfather on the outskirts of Mussoorie, as his parents sent him there from their distant village to attend school.
• ✿While walking home from the Mussoorie bazaar, Rakesh buys a bunch of sweet and sour cherries from the Kashmir Valley.
• ✿He eats almost all of them on the way but saves the very last seed. Grandfather advises him that to make the seed lucky, he must put it to good use by planting it.
• ✿Rakesh presses the seed into the soft, yielding earth in a shady corner of the garden.

2. The Sprouting & Early Care

• ✿The following spring, Rakesh is amazed to discover a small, well-rooted twig in the garden—the cherry seed has finally sprouted.
• ✿Grandfather instructs him to water it occasionally without drowning it. Rakesh lovingly sprinkles water on the plant and surrounds it with pebbles for "privacy."

3. Struggles and Resilience

• ✿During the early monsoon, the young tree grows quickly to about two feet tall, but faces its first threat when a goat enters the garden and eats all its leaves. Grandfather reassures a heartbroken Rakesh that cherry trees are tough.
• ✿Later, a woman cutting grass carelessly slices the cherry tree in two with her scythe. Despite this massive damage, the resilient tree refuses to die and sprouts new, tender green leaves by the next summer.

4. Growth and Nature's Visitors

• ✿As Rakesh grows up and turns eight, the tree grows alongside him, reaching up to his chest.
• ✿The tree begins attracting wildlife. A praying-mantis perches on it, and later, a hairy caterpillar arrives to eat the leaves, which Rakesh promptly removes to protect the plant.
• ✿When Rakesh turns nine, a miracle happens: the four-year-old tree produces a beautiful, pale pink blossom.

5. Bearing Fruit & The Joy of Creation

• ✿The following year, the tree grows taller than Rakesh and Grandfather. It bears numerous blossoms and attracts birds and bees.
• ✿It finally produces small cherries. Although they are initially too sour for Rakesh, birds like bulbuls and scarlet minivets feast on them.
• ✿One evening, while resting under the tree with his grandfather, Rakesh asks why they love this tree more than the others in the forest. Grandfather explains that it is special because they planted it themselves.
• ✿Touching the smooth bark and looking at the life he nurtured from a single seed, Rakesh feels a deep sense of awe and gently whispers, "Is this what it feels to be God?"