The Chinese Bamboo

Yesterday my friend Paul Tham gave me a timely reminder. He said I have not been updating my blog since February 2012. I told him that the period from February till April was a busy one for me. Too many things to catch up since I came back to...... (Never mind for those who do not know what I mean by this.) Further more, I told him that during this time I have a lot of thoughts and feelings which I prefer not to put in words, just in case there are ‘vultures’ waiting with ever alert eyes for any wrong words I may use or any misinterpretations and misquotes to exploit. Within the same breath I also told him that I am still busy finishing my writing assignment (Physics books).

Looking back just a day later, on this auspicious Wesak day, I think what I mentioned yesterday was not totally or 100% true. I should have added one more reason which is probably even more convincing. That is, some elements of laziness have crept in. That is why, on this special day, I have to remind myself to write and there is no better way than to start off immediately because procrastination is another more dangerous disease.

Paulo Celho is one of my favourite authors and I have read few books of his like ‘The Alchemist’, ‘By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept’ and ‘Like the Flowing River’. These books certainly provide useful lessons on life, especially those concerning faith, spiritual renewal, love and courage. Recently I have just finished reading another very thought provoking book of his called ‘Aleph’ and I would like to share with you a story told in this book. It is about the Chinese bamboo. Paulo Celho shared with his readers an insight he received concerning the Chinese bamboo while skimming through a magazine in a hotel room one day. According to the article related by him, when the seed has been sown, we see nothing for about five years, apart from a tiny bamboo shoot. Actually all the growth takes place underground, where a complex root system reaching upward and outward takes place. However, at the end of the fifth year, the bamboo suddenly shoots up to a height of twenty-five metres.

I went through several websites to confirm this fact and got more inspired by more other facts I unearthed about the magic plant called the bamboo (not necessary the Chinese bamboo). I would like to share with you some of the sites:

1.) http://www.midatlanticbamboo.com/bamboo-info/bamboo-grow.htm

This site quotes the following:

Bamboo grows more rapidly than any other plant on the planet, It has been clocked surging skyward as fast as 47.6 inches (121 cm or 1.21 metre!) in a 24-hour period.

David Farrelly - The Book of Bamboo

This site also confirms the fact that it take many years for the underground root system to develop before the plant shoots up vertically at a tremendous rate.

2.) http://www.lewisbamboo.com/growth-chart.html

This interesting site charts the growth bamboo plants in two weeks.

Let us go back to the fact that it takes years for the bamboo plant to set up a complex root system. The root mass usually doubles in size each year to provide enough energy for the stem to increase in diameter and height. The energy that comes from the process whereby the leaves transpire water that the roots provide and in return the leaves convert sunlight into food and send it to the root system will be used for the growth of more leaves. Apart from being an energy storage system that enables rapid growth above the ground, the root system also provide a strong hold for the bamboo plant to the ground. Otherwise, with a height reaching twenty-five metres or more, a bamboo plant may not withstand the onslaught of strong wind.

Having read Paulo Celho’s writing and various websites concerning bamboo, I am tempted to relate these facts about the bamboo plants to us, human being. Isn’t it true that in whatever we do, the foundation is of utmost importance and that we need to spend years to increase our knowledge and improve our skills to lay solid ground work and foundation just as the complex root system of the bamboo plant before we can expect to ‘shoot-up’ in our career? So, the next time you think you can just put up a show, do some gimmicks, impress some ‘power that be’, do some superficial packaging without sufficient ground works, you better think twice. Some people may believe you but most of the majority will not. (However, to some, this is more than enough.) To end this article before my family members get irritated waiting for me to go for evening tea, let me quote the famous Phua Choo Kang: ‘Don’t play-play.’