Difference between revisions of "The Sumbal Trees"

Late January and the sun feels warm

On my face and I watch out for

The red of the Sumbal trees. Last year

I said goodbye to the trees that

Lined Ferozpur Road, that lit up

The sky with their flaming blossoms

Dug up by heavy machinery leaving

Bare sky in their place.

The heavy machinery is back again

To finish what it started

Tearing up the earth to extend

The road but where will I see

The Sumbal flowers and how will

I know that spring is here?

How will I shed the heaviness of

Winter and welcome better days

Ahead? How will I feel the joy in

My heart when the flowers reach out

And touch it? Spring is almost here

But sorrow still envelopes me.

Where are my Sumbal trees?

by Tanwir Shah

Discussion

Lahore was once called the city of gardens. When the city wasn't as large as it is today it was surrounded by trees and orchards. As the city has expanded almost all have disappeared and the denizens of the city had to content themselves with the many tree lined roads with their brilliant display of flowers at different times of the year. These too have now been threatened as the city seeks to solve its traffic problems by widening roads for spiralling numbers of road users.

The first victims of this expansion are the trees. Trees along the Canal Road were downed to make way for a series of underpasses constructed a few years ago. The most recent victims have been the Sumbal trees on Ferozpur Road just after it reaches Chungi Amer Sidu. A dual carriageway is being built to link the city of Lahore with Kasur and eventually with the Indian border. The aim is to create a good trade route between the two countries but I wonder if they will replace the trees. (6 million trees to be planted)

If you would like to find out more about the Trees of Pakistan, a book of the same name gives an in depth study of the trees of this region.