Category: Death
-
Bittersweet
I sit in the silent living room, the silence accentuated by the sounds of my fingers flying on the keyboard. I sit trying to make sense of the meltdown I just witnessed. Ammu, for forty-five minutes today you wept. Distraught and inconsolable. The only words you kept repeating were “Daddy”. I held you close, I…
-
A life snuffed too soon.
Late evening, darkness falling silkily over the apartment on the 10th floor. The balcony is open with the evening breeze wafting in. The kitchen bustles with activity as dinner is being made. We sit in the modest living room. All of us gaggle of cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces. Voices rise and fall, laughter being the…
-
The place of understanding
Phone cradled between my ear and neck, I stirred a creamy concoction of butter, milk and cheese all the while listening to a broken soul on the other end. My chitappa, voice breaking, was trying to make sense of the loss in his life. As I held on even if just in silence I realized…
-
The woman who was a child
I remember her first as a bride, milk white next to my rather dark chitappa. I was in fourth grade then. The competition was fierce to vie for her affections amidst a brood of siblings and cousins. Snatches of images crowd my brain. Her in a six yards saree when my mom and other chithi…
-
I remember
The sound of the phone droned in my head in deep sleep. Rubbing my eyes awake I saw the clock show 3:48 AM. A phone call at that hour only meant one thing. Death. So it was. My cousin was calling to share the news that a great-aunt passed away. I put the receiver down…