I got stuck in that sliver of a memory for eternity. Wherever I turn, however hard I try, I pick the same note from the hoary distance, see the same old nagging visual in the periphery, that of my helpless mother, across whose wan face a pair of iron gates collapsed shut, its definiteness as loud and final as death. Alas, if I had arms long enough to reach some forty years back to heave open the doors of that elevator for her once! We were at … Continue reading
(Dedicated to all the trees that are leaving as part of National Highway widening drive) Sodden with the fragrance of ripe mangoes the evening breeze gusts in to tell the news. It is time for the tree across the alley to go. I took a deep breath. Mango breath. I don’t know what to say, or how to respond, whether to wax eloquently on it or to puff out my chest to face the certain loss like a man. If I … Continue reading
The story, ‘The Ghost of the Canary‘ continues… I used to come home every weekend. But the following Sunday I got quite bored at home, and decided to get back to the lodge by an evening train. I wanted to see my friends and with them perhaps I could play more pranks upon the poor juniors, I thought. When I reached Kollam it was 10 O’ clock, night. Canary lodge was a kilometer away. I decided to hoof it through … Continue reading
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
