Pipal tree near my home

There is this huge old tree near our house. Its one of those where you have to bend your neck right back so much that it hurts and that's when you are able to see the huge branches and shimmering leaves. When I stand beneath it and look up, I can see streaks of sunrays filtering through its thick leaves, as if only the purest of the rays are showering on me. The trunk of this tree is so huge that I probably will not be able to catch my fingers if I put my hands around it. I don’t intend to either. Though I am totally mesmerized by the hugeness of this tree, I find it creepy. There are these weeds, thick fat weeds growing around the huge trunk of the tree. And worst, its not just the base, the weeds go right up to the sky. And these weeds maintain their shape and weight right up to the top. And well that not that, there are leaves growing too. At least ¼ th of the trunk is covered by these heart shaped leaves. I wonder whether how does this old huge tree tolerate this. Doesn’t it feel like shrugging off these weeds and leaves. Or do these weeds and leaves act as a blanket, protecting it from the fierce cold. Which means they are dwelling in some sort of symbiotic relationship. You protect me and I feed you. But each time I pass this tree I think of the good old story of a Pipal Tree. The one which hosts ghosts, my mum always told me these scary stories and convinced me so much that I still seem to believe them sometimes. Errr okie many times. So a pipal tree is a dwelling of ghosts and according to my mum they hang upside down from the branches of this tree. Well these are different from bats, so don’t even try mentioning something like that to my mum. Anyways, these ghosts live there as one big happy family. Mum said its not good to stand under this ghost dwelling tree, because some how these ghosts find the neck and shoulder of every human attractive, so they jump on to the neck and follow home. How ? Don’t ask me :) I don’t remember a single horror movie of Ramsay which didn’t feature the famous pipal tree. In fact, to make it look real there would be this white smoke surrounding the tree and some sort of light thrown from behind the tree. But what makes me smile when I see this tree, is its evergreen nature. Its not an evergreen tree but due to the green weeds and ever more darker green leaves over its body, it looks alive. So while during winter all other trees are playing dead, this giant is enjoying looking green. Since observing this I have a renewed interest in this humongous tree. I don’t miss looking at it even once when I pass it and the weeds don’t seem to bother me anymore..