049 Green in the Desert
Hey Shami, you stay green in the desert where little else survives, sending your roots deep to find water.
What keeps us green when life goes dry?
What keeps you green when life goes dry?
In the Thar desert, under a white-hot sky, a single tree stands green on cracked earth. Nothing else around it is green.
It is the shami, the khejri tree.
What really happens
The shami tree survives in some of the driest places in India, where little else grows.
Its very deep roots reach water far below the surface, so it can stay green when the ground above is dry.
How we know: The tree's drought tolerance is well documented; depth figures vary, so we print none. It is the state tree of Rajasthan and Telangana.
The turn
When life goes dry, through loss, illness or a hard year, it is our deep roots that keep us green.
Faith, friendship, purpose, habits: the things we grew down into before the drought came.
Three takeaways
- Grow deep roots in good years.
- Green in the drought comes from below.
- What you cannot see holds you up.
The desert cannot dry what drinks from deep.
Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.