As soon as I woke up in the morning, my eyes fixed on the cypress tree. He was bent because of the snow. The snow that fell all night covered everything in a white blanket. The branches of the cypress trees were touching the ground, buried under the weight of snow, like a tired old man standing with his head bowed to time. I stood by the window, looking at it for a long time. It occurred to me that if the weight of snow continued to grow like this, this beautiful tree would break. I looked down the street. My neighbor Elahi Bakhsh was walking slowly towards the cypress with a long stick in his hand. They were moving forward by removing snow from one branch. I opened the window and called out to them:
"Oh God! What are you doing in this cold?"
He smiled and replied:
"Son! If you don't reduce its burden now, it will break."
I said:
"But it is only a tree, why so much effort for it?"
He remained silent for a few moments, then said:
"Trees don't just give us wood but they have been giving us shade, air and beautiful environment for years. Today he has a hard time, so it is our duty to share his burden.
His words touched my heart. I immediately put on warm clothes and came out and started shoveling snow with them.
In no time the branches of the cypress began to lighten. Allah Bakhsh looked at the tree and said:
"See, son! Sometimes you don't have to stand up straight, you just have to lighten the load."
After listening to him, I asked helplessly:
"Is it the same with humans?"
He smiled:
"Human beings carry more burdens than trees. Some have the burden of sorrow, some have the burden of poverty, some have the burden of loneliness and some have the burden of their mistakes. If we take a little of their burden, maybe they too will stand up straight again."
Suddenly I thought of my classmate Naveed. He was quiet for the last few days. We used to make fun of him as weak and lazy but no one tried to find out what was hidden behind his silence.
The next day I called Naveed to my place. I learned that his father was sick for several months and the condition of the house was very bad. Because of this, he was not able to concentrate on his studies. I was ashamed that we kept looking at his bent existence but never tried to remove the snow from him.
I told my friends everything. Then together we collected books for Naveed, completed his notes etc. and helped his family as much as possible.
After some time, Naveed's face returned with the same old smile. In the exam, he scored the highest marks in the entire batch. After hearing the result, he came to me and said
"You guys changed my life..."
I smiled and looked at the cypress tree outside the window and said:
"No, Naveed brother! We only reduced your burden a little, you were just on your own."
After that day, every time the snow freezes on the cypress in winter, the first thing I do is remove the snow from its branches, because now I know that a person who bends under the load should not be cut down because he is weak. Sometimes all it needs is support and a little love.