The Old Man's Banyan Tree

A middle aged man in a quest to buy a farm house, finds a beautiful property on sale. He is awestruck with beauty and the legacy behind the man who owns it. This is a story narrated by the man who bought a piece of history along with a house and the old man's banyan tree. 

The story is narrated by a man, about his experience on the day he found the property what he was looking for. He is a city dweller looking for a peaceful property to own where he and his family can go out and spend time over the weekends and possibly a pleasant retirement home for himself. 

Part 1: Curiousness

One day i saw an advertisement on a local newspaper about a farmland for sale. The advertisement didn’t mention too much about the property itself. It just read “An old traditional farmhouse with 2 acres of land attached for sale in Magadi village” with a telephone number to call for more information. It came with a picture of an old traditional farmhouse, behind it was a land with a big banyan. It was a perfect picture I could imagine for my farmhouse to be. I called the person for a site visit and made up plans to see it over the weekend. The whole week was restless as my mind kept going back to the picture on the advertisement. I had a strange feeling I was going to buy the property no matter what the price. 

The next Sunday morning me and my wife left to Magadi village. It was just 2 hours away from where we stayed. The two hours felt very short as we spoke about how our great grandfathers would have lived. It would have been a similar house they would have lived in. They had sold their ancestral lands and moved to the city with their children and cattle in search of a better future. They had achieved what they wanted. They had given us the future we needed but, there was something we were missing. “Peace of mind and Piece of our ancestral connections”. 

We didn’t realise it was 2 hours as we reached the village. It was no trouble looking for the old man’s place as the entire village knew him very well and respected him. His name was “Krishnappa”. He was known in the village as “Alladamara Krishnappa” translates to baniyan tree Krishnappa. The man who planted a banyan tree in his land. We reached the house and it was beautiful to look at. It was much better than the picture we came after and our imagination. It was outside of the village, an old traditional wooden house next to a banyan tree and a farmland right behind the house. the front yard was flat and clean frequented by all kinds of farm animals. There was no human in site. The man on the phone ask us to get in the house and have a look around while he took time to reach the place. He lives in the city just like us. 

We entered the house after admiring the front porch and the exterior. We loved the heavy antique door which opened so smoothly. We were welcomed with the smell of spices and incense sticks. The inside was much more than what we could have imagined. the centre of the house had a basil plant decorated with flowers and incense sticks surrounded by a water puddle and stepping stones leading to the holy plant. It had 3 rooms in each corner and an open kitchen on one side. The centre yard had all kind of antique furniture including a wooden cot made with jute ropes. Everything in the house was very old and antique. 

There was a back door which open towards the farm. The door was so big it gave us a panoramic view of the farm. It felt like illusion as the plants and trees seems to go far away and we walk closer to the door. It was a beautiful experience to see the farm with the banyan tree for the first time. As we stepped outside, we saw the old man. He was a man in his 90's sitting on an old wooden chair, wearing all white cloths staring endlessly at the big banyan tree. It made us curious why he got the name. 

“Is it because of this endless staring?” my wife asked. 

We went in front of him and greeted. He greeted us back with a namaste but, didn’t speak. He took his eyes off us and continued staring back at the banyan tree. Some thing about this man was mysterious and we wanted to know his story. 

Why is he all alone in this house? Why is he staring at this tree? What is his story? 

Part 2: Story behind the man

By this time we had seen everything that is there to see about this property and some one from his farm appeared walking towards us. A women who look like a caretaker for the farm. She came to us with a basket full of fresh harvest. A few cucumbers, tomatoes and lime. She greeted us and asked us to wait for the old man’s son to arrive. She said the old man can’t speak but, welcomed us on his behalf. She offered to make us lunch to which my wife said “I will help you” “I have never cooked in an old kitchen before”. We followed her to the kitchen. We were still curious to know about the old man’s story than to make or eat lunch. We started the conversation right away. Her name was Girija. She was employed by the old man’s sons to take care of him and the house. As we looked at the old photos on the wall. We couldn’t wait to know more. “Tell us about the old man” I asked. Girija started fire on the wooden stove and started tell us about the man as we slipped into imagination of how he would have been when he was younger. 

Krishnappa was a street seller. He sold bangles and other ornaments for living. He would walk all day selling his hand made jewellery door to door. He was known for his unique way of selling and was known for having cupid conversations with just about any random person on the street. The villages loved to have him around just to have a conversation about current affairs and roomers. He had a lot of roomers to share. After all he was the most social one among them. He was known for his love affair in the village than anything else and the scarifies he had made to be married to her. 

He was in love with a girl in the village, a widow and daughter of a big landlord. The girl had lost her husband before her child was born. It was back in the days when girls were forced into marriage before they were old enough and marring a widow was still a taboo. He fought a battle of sorts and with help from his friends and followers to persuade the girl’s father into getting her married again. He had proved his worth by owning a piece of land with his hard earned money and promised to take care of her better than him. The girl had a liking towards him too. She had managed to express her feelings amidst the chaos, braking the cultural barrier that existed in the village before. 

“Everyone in the village still remembers the day when they were married” Girija said. “He carried her child in his arms as he escorted Gauramma to this house”. 

We acknowledged as we stared at the old photo. In it Krishnappa holding his child with his newly wedded wife, Gauramma. Right next to it was a bigger photo of Gauramma with garlands. We knew that she was no more. We were still curious why he got the name? and whats the thing about this banyan tree? Right then a family of 5 people entered the house. It was Krishnappa’s son and his family. They all walked straight up to the old man to pay their respects by touching his feet. We understood they all loved and respected him. They all greeted us and invited us for lunch. We were both lost in the old man’s story. We had conversation over lunch to get to know each other. They all lived in the city just like us and the man was into politics. They wore expensive cloths, we noticed the expensive imported cars in the front yard but, the man sat on the floor to eat with us. He was humble. The kids and ladies were not that normal. Like all city dwellers, they were busy on their phones and in their own worlds. We made our assumption on why the property was on sale. 

Part 3: The Banyan tree 

We took a walk after lunch towards the banyan tree. We spoke about the price for the land and it was sensible. We agreed to buy the property.We then continued our conversation with the old man's son (Giri) about the old man’s name and his condition. 3 months into Krishnappa’s ceremonial wedding, Gauramma had died. She was working on her farm where a poisonous snake had bitten her leg. She had fainted in the farm while no one noticed. She dead by the time Krishnappa had returned from his jewellery sales. The kid was at their grandfather’s house close by not knowing the fate of his mother. By the evening the entire village had gathered to morn Gauramma’s passing. Krishnappa and Gauramma had spoken about living a long life. A life longer than their bodies can sustain. They wanted to be remembered for their marriage, their will to fight the taboos that haunted normal life. For their love to rise above all barriers from child marriages to living a widow’s life, from being in love to financial status that divided the rich and the poor. They had broken many barriers at the time that other’s couldn’t think about. They had spoken about being buried under a banyan tree after their time. They want to be able live longer through the banyan tree and grow taller than any human can ever grow. After this unfortunate day Krishnappa had made his wife’s choice a reality. He buried his wife in the farm, planted a banyan tree sapling right where his wife had fallen. He took care of this tree like he would take care of his wife since then. 

"I am not his biological son" Giri said, “but, he took very good care of me, provided me education, taught me good values and made sure i become a socially responsible citizens like him".“By selling this land we are only fulfilling his last wish and only you can fulfil it” He added. 

Part 4: The Last Wish

Now that i was aware of the mystery behind this banyan tree and the old man’s relationship with it. I was now curious about his last wish his son’s family is working on fulfilling and how i would be involved in the process. I also wanted to know why they didn’t want to keep the land for themselves. They seemed well off and not so desperate financially to raise money. There was very minimal negotiation during the deal. 

Giri said "After my mother's death, he became a social worker. He fought for social causes and welfare of the villagers throughout his life and that is why the village knows him so well. He fought for women rights and didn't let any child marriages happen with in the village. The whole village respected him and came to him for guidance in all matters.He wrote his WILL (his last wish) and made it public to everyone in the village as trusties"

the WILL read, “I Krishnappa, the son of no body have lived my life to the fullest extent that my body can sustain. After my time is done in this world, I wish to live for under my banyan tree”. “I have thought my son my values and made them socially responsible person and he is able to survive on his own” “I wish to sell my land and donate the proceedings to the village’s elderly home. I have always believed that children should earn their own livelihood and not rely on parent's properties. my son stands by me on my last wish. Let this be my last social service to my village”.  

This WILL meant that, If we buy the property then we had to bury the old man in the farmland. Legally this can’t be an obligation but, a request from the old man. We were so obsessed with the land and the price at which the property was available. We had no plans for the property except for a weekend house for the family and the trees being there in the farm land didn’t worry us. This was going to be a forever home for the family so, the old man’s request didn’t bother us. A few days later while we were transferring the property rights over, the old man had passed away. We along with his family buried him in his farm next to the banyan tree. At the end of the day the old man’s son handed over the keys to the house and left. Old people from the village and old age home gathered in the front yard talking about Krishnappa’s life. We quickly built a bond with the elders and were well received in the village. We felt like we now own krishnappa’s legacy and we wish we can keep the legacy for ever.

the end