Xunaru (Laburnum) was one of the few trees that captivated my attention as a kid. It's rich golden hue outlining a blue sky was my favourite view that the window of Class V, B could promise . My classmates always dreamt of reaching fifth standard for we had this fascination of being in the first floor as our previous classes were arranged in the ground floor of the building. They would run across the stairs whole day long, peep out of the veranda, whistle across the corridors to show off our promotion to the first floor. But I was more happy because I could be closer to the Xunaru tree which shyed away near our classroom window. There was something about this tree which kept me hooked the whole summer. It's filmsy petals filled my geometry box out shadowing the cruel looking Compass and divider. My way back home from school in a rickshaw brought me stories from the laburnum. Our Kokaideu who used to pull the rickshaw had his own stories. He used to narrate how he had plucked...