Author Archives: Manu

The Ghost of the Canary – Part 1

My students often ask me whether I believe in ghosts. Well, I had a few experiences. My friends who stayed with me in the Canary Lodge, Kollam two decades ago could never forget this blood-curdling incident that happened in our lives. Let me share with you the tingling that I still have in my spine.  “So where do you live?” I asked one of the young boys. He was about to answer, but then something happened. He stiffened, his eyes popped out, his … Continue reading

Life In The Wild – The Tale of the Mosses

A rain empties itself out drop by drop.  Only the voice of a trickle, a long-drawn draining -perhaps from a sunshade or a terrace from the neighbourhood – remains in the ears. I see the thin strand of water penciling down in the dark, jiggling on the surface and finally feathering away into concentric circles in a puddle. The last drops of a night-rain are the most painful, for their voice with their hard edges fall like glass shards, too … Continue reading

WHO SCARED THE THIEVES AWAY?

“But why did they leave us!” “No idea. Maybe the thieves saw you on the terrace reading and writing late into night. You could’ve scared them off, son!” Me! Yeah you, why? My skin tingled with pride, hair standing on edge, rubbernecking to pick what my amma had just said. Repeat, amma, repeat! Just when I thought, a 5’ 7” in height and 100cms in tummy-girth could never scare even a bandicoot off, I got this breather from my amma … Continue reading

Why we failed – A word to Charity Groups – Part 1

The sky was overcast, but the war lines had already been drawn, now they could not return. On one side stood some 50 odd students from various colleges in the city, all revving their philanthropic engines up, ready to go at the switch of a button.  A couple of teachers also stood by them – one of them, this writer and the other senior in experience, as she had attended an earlier program when the same kids spent a whole … Continue reading