Three Tulsi* Plants
I saw my friend and a worker pruning short, overgrown trees along the road and stopped—discovering that near one tree-base, a tulsi plant grew, which I could have.
Outside my compound wall were deep holes, but not all were planted.
Spading up black earth, I settled the tulsi plant in, watered it, and watched its increase to full-size.
An empty, ocher-colored, eighteen-inch-tall clay planter stood on the wide front steps beside the ramp to my home, and I decided to move the tulsi plant there.
In a drought plain, plants send their roots deep, but ignoring this gardening information, I pushed my shovel into the earth until I realized I could not lift out the dirt-ball of roots. With my ego now impatient, against common sense, and in frustration, I grabbed the full plant with arms bent and yanked.
Settled into the clay planter, it proceeded to die. I brought it onto the porch where I fruitlessly continued watering, spraying the drying stems, and apologizing.
In counseling, I had clients write the word “impatient,” and then again as “I m patient”—pointing out that the solution to an “unwillingness to wait” was held within the word.
I rationalized there was a regular tulsi plant near the water tank but this tulsi, given to me, had been a gawran with an unfamiliar fragrance.
Months passed. One day, as my worker was watering, he found a new tulsi plant near the north wall. When I got there—I discovered it was indeed a gawran tulsi! I felt relieved, absolved, gifted, and plain happy.
My realization is, “Certain mistakes take time to discover—others we know in the doing. When we face them, rather than staying in self-denial, grace comes with the seed-thought to do better next time.”
*Tulsi, known as holy basil (unrelated to salad basil), is a medicinal plant and tea.