I loved to visit a tree in my school’s backyard. Its low hanging branches and thick foliage were perfect for me to climb and hide. Every weekend, I’d stay there for hours. I’d just finish reading Enid Blyton’s Magical Faraway Tree, and I’d imagine many strange creatures from the book visiting me there. I’d greet them, talk to them and feed them.

The tree came in handy when I had to skip games. Once, I bunked a movie the school was showing and spent the entire time imagining things there. For a nine-year-old, I did a lot of imagining. Then, one day my parents came to visit me. They went straight to the principal’s office, saying he’d requested a meeting. When my mother came out, she told me I’d been fired from the school. My only crime - wetting the bed every night.

Just imagine my humiliation. I was surrounded by my classmates. Until that day, I hadn’t given them a single reason to even call me names. And then there was my father, a wrathful man, who mercilessly shouted at me in front of everyone, sometimes without any reason. I just had to run away from there. I ran straight for my tree. I spent a full hour there, sobbing and cursing God. I knew they were searching for me, but how could I face them? The more I thought of my father and my classmates, the more I held on to the tree.

I came down as dusk set in and my stomach growled with hunger. My father spotted me immediately. I stood there, shivering, as my father ran up to me. I expected a mauling, the severest tongue-lashing. Instead, he hugged and kissed me. I saw tears in his eyes. He even said I should never run away as he’d always take care of me, no matter what. I was washed with relief. My tears disappeared. I found strength. I could even face my classmates after that.

But what if my father had scolded me? What if my classmates had laughed while he beat me? I might have committed suicide. As my father led me away, I turned around and thanked the tree. I truly believed it had changed him.

I did visit the tree before I left the school. I took several twigs from it, and planted them in my backyard, watering them every day. But after a few months, I’d forgotten all about them. New classmates had arrived in my life and I was busy getting to know them.