Nooks and Corners

Then there are some nooks and corners that have stood testimony to so much, time itself perhaps  . As I stood waiting round the corner near the school I had spent 17 years in , my glance went to the tree that was witness to our teen talks , complaints , some gossip about the teachers, away from their earshot and yet not quite.
Just couldn't remember the number of times we stood at this corner sharing movie stories , girlie confessions , teenage  crushes and disappointments . Oh yes , the tears shed waiting for my Amma to pick me back home after getting bullied by a classmate to bring her a new pencil . Knowing not how to retaliate as a seven year old , weeping copiously , I stood beneath this very tree , waiting to see Amma and gather me in her safe haven .This tree had seen us whisper , laugh , steal a glance and quickly cover pretending we were just about leaving for home .This tree , if it could speak would have narrated a thousand tales of giggly pigtailed girls , teary ,heartbroken girls , girls confused at the changes they went through teens or the mood swings that parents termed as tantrums .
This tree perhaps knew more than the mothers of each of the girls who stood there , bag weighing down her back , yet trying to stay on a few minutes before she headed home.
This tree was a friend who could listen , be a confidante for it could tell no one . Wonder if the gentle sway of its branches was a way of approving to what it heard or perhaps nodding it's dissent at some of the mischief the girls revealed . 
Wonder in this age with mobiles , WhatsApp , social media , with the world shrinking, virtual meets , video calls , if it still stands waiting to hear the latest gossip from the girls, boys  gang of the school nearby or has it, like the world,  around gotten used to people bending their necks looking into the phone and not trying to stand beneath its shade sharing , telling tales . Perhaps it waits for the girls , boys , to come by , stand a while , but sadly laments since they walk away telling each other ..."let's ping " !!

Oh wait , do boys too , share what girls do to their classmates , best friends under the canopy of the “tree” the one lone mute  confidante ?