By River Wallang
When I was a kid, Madeng brought a sapling and planted it in grandma’s garden. It took just three years for that sapling to shoot up and grow into a tree. It was then a very new plant in Shillong. Madeng got the sapling from the gardener of Lady Hydari park, the only place at that time where these plants grew. They were not indigenous to these hills. It’s strange to find these plants with bare branches in summer. In early autumn, buds begin to form, and by late autumn, the whole tree would burst forth with glorious pinkish flowers that cover the whole tree. The flowers would last for just a week or two at the most, and they are replaced by green leaves that last till spring. At home, my folks were not too keen on this new plant because of the insects, so a few years later the tree was unceremoniously chopped down, unmourned and unappreciated.
My long years abroad had taken me and my family to different parts of the world, and one learns to appreciate different cultures and learn about different value systems. One such place that my family and I were fortunate enough to be in was Japan. Now, most of you know the Japanese to be a sober, disciplined and down to earth people. (The second world war was an aberration in the Japanese psyche). It is a nation that has accomplished much, emerging as an Asian pride in a world otherwise dominated by western nations in the twentieth century. It is an advanced, industrialized society, till recently the second largest economy in the world, and very prosperous. But the Japanese are also connoisseurs of finer things in life, and one of those is their appreciation of nature.
It was in Japan that we realized just how precious was that plant of long ago in our garden, with its pinkish bloom. In contrast to the late autumn flowering that we witness here, in Japan these trees bloom in spring. The flowering starts in mid-March first in Guam islands, spreading to Kyushu and southern Honshu island in late March and to Tokyo and beyond in early April.
The flowering of these plants brings about a strange metamorphosis in the otherwise staid and always serious Japanese. This is the time when the Japanese literally “let their hair down”. All over the country, everyone wears a lighter and festive mood. People dress in bright coloured clothes and in celebration of spring. The parks and riverbanks where these plants are specially planted in a pattern that only the Japanese could perfect, became almost overnight, mass picnic sites for as long as the flowers last. Companies, Departments and Corporations would organize evening picnics where everyone joins in and there is a lot of sake drinking, dining and merry making.
Being Japanese, in spite of the huge crowds in every park and all the drinking etc. no one would ever trespass into anyone else’s party or cause any inconvenience to others. It is really a sight to behold. We expatriates are also caught up in the festive mood of the season; we too join the crowd to have our own celebrations. It is very infectious. In Japan, a whole industry has been created out of this celebration.
After years spent outside, coming back to Shillong, my wife and I were quite surprised when, come November, we suddenly realized that this plant had established itself in these climes and had spread everywhere. One could now see whole hillsides and gardens blooming away in season. It is a pleasurable sight, bringing back wonderful memories of Japan. Some of you may have guessed by now. Yes – the Japanese call them “Sakura”. And the English call them the “cherry blossoms”. In Japan they have to carefully plant and tend them, here they just grow wild!
Tourism promoters, take note. If special parks, walkways and nature reserves could be created by planting these cherry blossoms, we could attract quite a few Japanese tourists, specially if they know that they can enjoy their “sakura” season in late autumn.
(The writer is a former diplomat)