7. THE WIZARD OF OZ

L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) might have written the fairy story Wizard of Oz keeping young people in mind but somehow this tale doesn’t hold much relevance in the present context. Why I say this is because at a time when Baum wrote it, that is in 1900, the world definitely must have been covered with a lot of greenery. There must have been countless trees all around.

Having said that, I realised that more than being happy, I was horrified at the way trees were rampantly cut down by the Tin-man, with his shiny axe. This is not the first time I have read this story, but maybe I never really understood the horrid implications of trees being cut down. Maybe, I was too young to understand this the first time I read it as a little girl. And now years later, when the dwindling number of trees across the Earth is not being able to keep pace with the burgeoning population, we all need to sit up and take note and eventually do something about it lest we self-destruct!

The Wizard of Oz is a simple fairy-tale of a little girl called Dorothy, who by sheer magic is whirled by a storm into the desert, far far away from Kansas, where she lived with her aunt and uncle on a ranch. She searches for a way to get back home and in the meantime, by fluke, kills a wicked witch and wears her silver shoes, completely unaware of its magic powers.

On her journey to find the Wizard of Oz, who she believes will get her back to Kansas, she meets three other queer companions, who later on were to become her dear friends; the Tin –man, the Scare-crow and a Lion. They all accompany Dorothy to the Emerald City, the home of the wizard as they each had something to request from the magician. The Tin-man wanted a heart as he didn’t have one, the Scarecrow wanted some brains so that he could think properly and the Lion wanted courage as he thought he was a coward.

The story unravels nuances of human life as the four along with Dorothy’s dog Toto walk through the yellow brick road. What was really interesting though was the way these friends stayed together even when the worst situations befell them. They rescue each other from the troubles they faced and finally succeed in their mission.

A story of integrity, love, understanding, compassion, unity and much more.

Except for the obvious and nonchalant way the author allowed the Tin-man to chop off trees, the book is fast-paced with a more than comfortable-to-the-eye font to make the discerning reader say, “Now, that’s a good book.”