The Trees Told Me So

'My eyes were now almost shut, but i could see the tree above me; it was huge. The green spread covered the whole sky above it and also what happend beneath. I couldn't see the stars. The breeze was shaking the branches –its many branches. You do remember that tree, don't you, Mum?

If trees could talk, they'd have so much to tell: the story of two broken hearts, that stolen first, kiss those lasts words of a mother to her son, endless cups of tea and never –endings chatter, of nostalgia, an act of bruitality and a tale of passions.

In this collection of short stories. The Trees Told Me So, Purva Grover draws a beautiful and poigent picture of love, life and loss, with an honest voice. And the common thread running through the stories is that nature (read: a tree) stands witness like an old soul –full of wisdom and compassion. A silent observer, a keeper of secrets, yet the tree is always an integral part of the character's very being.

Purva Grover is a journalist, poet, playwright and stage director. She is the founder –editor of The Indian Trumpet, a quarterly digital, magazines for Indian expats, and works as the assistant editor with a UAE, national daily. She is backed with a post –graduate degree in mass communication and literature. She resides in Dubai, UAE. The Trees Told Me So marks her debut as an author.

Why did the trees speak to me?

Why did the characters, whose lives had been touched by the trees, decides to confide in me?

I am yet to know.

Could it be because I promised to listen closely?

I took notes of thoughts that came and vanished. I scribbled down memories that I wished we cherised. I was patient when I met up with people who ached to share. I deat with questions that made me uncomfortable. I let the sceneries, objects and situations, inspire me. I expressed joy, love, anxiety, disappointment, anger happiness and pain.

Together, we wove these 11 tales –of faith, funeral; of dads, dreams; of growth, greed; of sins, secrets; of chai, confessions; of relationships, reflections; of lives, loves and living.

And we remembered to do so with honesty because it's only the honest words that have the power to bring about the changes, touch hearts and awaken minds.

I can only hope we never lose faith in these words. These tales are now as much yours as they are mine.