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“Rather, Beauty is the emptying of the mind,” he said, “for at such moments you haveno thoughts in the mind at all.”Amol and Amita were silent for a long time.After that experience they were very humble, and less sure of their own opinions onpainting or architecture or music. They had seen the glory of God. Man’s experience oncanvas or stone seemed limited in comparison.Have you enjoyed seeing beautiful things? What are your favourites? Have you everwatched a sunrise or a sunset? Do it sometime. What is good taste? Discuss it in class.21. When Trees Hold a Conference What Do They Talk About?About the cruelty of man, of course. And this is how it happened:Sudha loved the old house in which they were living. It belonged to her grandfather. Itwas a ramshackle place and was coming to pieces but it had those high ceilings of yesteryears, beautiful arches at the entrance and Sudha felt it had character, the sort that goeswith houses of an earlier century. She loved moving in and out of it and most of all sheloved the mango tree in the compound. Often she would sit under it and admire itsbranches, the way they were formed, its leaves and their personality, their shades ofcolour and so on. The only child in the family, she had grown to be very reserved. Heronly friends were trees, and of all, this particular mango tree, with which she wouldconverse for long hours after school.That day she was miserable as she sat under the tree, choking with tears, for a decisionhad been taken by her parents that they would move to a modern flat in another part ofthe city. They were selling this house to some contractor and Sudha chanced to see himthat morning. He looked so harsh with a frown and a bristling moustache that she wasafraid he would demolish everything she loved — that door with a beautiful carving thatled to her father’s study, the arched verandah at the back, the dome-shaped windows, andso on. She worried particularly about the mango tree. Would this cruel man cut it down?There was so much said these days about the ruthless cutting down of forests and trees.Would she lose her friend? Earlier, she had asked her father why on earth they shouldmove when they had such a nice house, but father had said it was old and did not havemodern amenities. The toilets were old-fashioned and far away from the bedrooms; therewas no wash basin; no proper kitchen or store, not even ventilation. Above all, the newhouse was in a good locality where she would have friends and she could even cycledown to school. It was an apartment, part of a set of multi-storeyed flats. They were onthe fourth floor and there were eight floors. Sudha hated the whole scheme but shecouldn’t argue with her parents, because after all, you can only point out something toyour parents if you feel strongly about it. You can’t argue with them. Apparently theyknow better because they are older and wiser. So she kept her sorrow to herself and nowunder her mango tree she wept quietly and she dozed off. That is when she dreamt thisdream:Her own special mango tree had called a Conference of Trees in the Himalayas, or soit appeared. There were so many trees: banyan, peepal, ashoka, palm, pine, doedar, neem,fig, rubber, jackfruit, mulberry, jamun, teak, sal, parijata, sandalwood, rudraksh,