Peepal tree is considered holy in India, especially by Hindus. Recently, we wanted to start the ground digging work at our new plot [which will eventually be ALLISCO], in order to lay the foundation, but there was a fairly large Peepal tree at one corner which needed to be removed.
Interestingly, while the factory workers promptly removed all of the non-Peepal trees, all of them and also the upper staff refused to chop this Peepal tree, including the Muslim workers. Several reasons were cited - fear of supernatural things, ghosts, sacred tree, etc.
As the owner, I was frustrated, because I cannot let a tree come in the way of progress of an upcoming firm. To be sure, I understand well the importance of respecting the values and beliefs of others, but I also realize that a tree just cannot be allowed to come in the way of work.
So I asked a worker to hand me over the chopping tool, and I quickly cut the trunk about 1.5 inches, thus assuring one Muslim worker that it's okay to chop this tree. On seeing me make the cut, he agreed to cut the rest of the trunk, and once the trunk was about half cut, we both violently pulled the trunk [we utilized resonance] and were able to bring down the large tree.
Before the chopping, 17-Sep-13
