Baba
It is two years since Baba is gone. Seeing this on screen looks surreal, hardly believable, but nothing could be further from truth. He had seemed invincible with his verve and spirit, but Nature proved to have a stronger spirit. He is gone and in his stead is a deep emptiness, a hollow and vacuum of sorts. Like a cutout - a very vacuous cutout. I still recollect that evening when cookie called like it was yesterday. I had just finished a heart to heart conversation with her and in less than half an hour or so she called again. I was very sure she had to pass on some interesting bit of gossip that she had missed earlier. But she was terse and anxious in her message. "We have lost Baba, Sonalitai", she said in the midst of her sobs and tears. I had bent down to tie my shoe laces even as I answered her call. I could scarcely understand what she meant. "What do you mean?" I asked her stupidly. "Baba has passed away", she had replied trying to find synonyms ...