The Fourth Seat

I was introduced to the Vishu tree a long long time ago. I had not seen one until I saw it on the cover of PCM's The Children Magazine - a popular magazine published in Kerala. I used to read the magazine as a child until I grew older and then became hooked to the Reader's Digest. It was a Vishu special issue. Vishu, like many regional festivals, is one of the major harvest festivals celebrated widely in Kerala.  It is marked by the blossoming of the beautiful yellow flower of the Vishu tree, every petal of which shines bright in the summer months. Ever since I learnt about it, the Vishu tree started becoming my favourite tree to spot as I roamed the streets during summer holidays. Though in Bombay, back then, there were very few spots where this tree could be seen. Perhaps there are even fewer such spots now. There was the one near the railway station, you could only see it when you were standing on the footboard, living life on the edge. And then there was one by the flyover,

Five years is a long time in today's world. Stay at the same workplace for that long and you join the gratuity club. Every five years the Indian democracy presents all of us with a chance to change our world. But five years is not a long enough time to heal you. Personal loss takes a long time to heal they say. I can tell you that they are right.  Every February as the sun makes its journey up north, it begins to warm up everywhere. The faint signs of spring - the occasional tree in bloom signal promising times after a cold winter. As the days turn longer and the nights shorter, I feel myself drawn to the chilly evening of 2018. The breeze was cold as I rushed to the hospital. The air was crisp and fresh as it is often during the bewitching hour of midnight. The gurney was ice cold, and his face was getting cooler. The light had gone out of our lives.  Death severs all bonds or maybe it doesn't. But the time spent together when alive is far more precious than you think. It is p