So there we were, looking at the couple getting wedded. She asked if I’d like to have another. I smiled but declined.
“Who says no to Amarula wine”, she teased.
Together, we looked at the pretty wedding card and the venue mentioned on it – Under the Marula tree. “It sounds sweet, doesn’t it?”, she mused.
“You know, the Africans love the Marula tree”, I said. “It’s a protected tree in South Africa. Just like elephants. Coincidentally elephants love this fruit and walk for miles to eat it”.
“Maybe I should try it?” she asked.
“Be careful of what you desire, mademoiselle!”
“And why should I, Mr Smarty Pants?”
“Cos the Zulu people call it the Marriage Tree”.
“You can’t be serious! Why why!”
The elderly lady on the next seat, frowned at my friend for being so loud.
Me: “The Marula has separate male & female trees. You will always find them adjacent to each other, happily coexisting for 100s of years. They can only bear fruit, if they grow close to each other. Many African tribes believe in the interdependency of males and females, & thus revere the Marula tree”
“Why do you know all this, Nero?”
I shrugged my shoulders. I have always loved reading, I guess. She probably didn’t. Most people don’t.
She confessed, “I don’t know if I ever want to get married. But I think it’s sweet to know that the Marula male and female trees live close to each other forever”.
“Heh in fact when a man and his wife fight in some of these tribes, the villagers tie them both to a large Marula tree, and leave them like that till the fight was resolved!! Imagine our bride and groom tied to a tree, and quarrelling bitterly”.
She: Haha! You are making this all up!
I shook my head vehemently.
“Finish my drink, Nero. I need to go dance with my friends.”
I finished the glass in one large swig.
“Mora Mora” she said mockingly. Failing to comprehend, I looked at her with an enquiring face.
“It’s what the people in Madagascar say. It’s a feeling. Means ‘take it easy’, ‘go with the flow’, ‘slowly my friend’. Mora Mora Nero”, she said as her friends pulled her to dance with them.
So she did read. I smiled and looked on at them dancing happily