As is usual in Goa, after the monsoon ends there is always plenty of autumn cleaning required in our flat to clear away the cobwebs, dust and fungus that settle during the rainy months. This time, in October, I was struck by thoughts and remembrances of my late mother, Shantha Sundaram, my aged father’s mother (my paternal grandmother), Lakshmi Anantaraman, and my former and now late husband, Kimman Balakrishnan.
I started writing these thoughts at the start of November 2024, but could finish and share them on my blog only at the end of the month. I hope this doesn’t diminish the importance of these thoughts and the sentiments behind them in any way.
I shot the featured image at the start of this post on my morning walk recently in Goa, when the sight of fallen autumn leaves on the road reminded me of a starlit sky, where I hope the dear departed are residing.
May they rest in peace now and forever.
Autumn Cleaning and Remembrances
The last of the south-west monsoon rains
Having left us in Goa for another year,
It’s time to welcome the sun
Into our home and into our lives.
In the shafts of sunlight slanting in
Here and there, now and then,
I discover a month of remembrances
Wiped clean, ready to shine again.
In old chests of drawers and in closets,
I find old clothing or lace
That belonged to my late mother, and my father’s mother
Who both passed on this month, years ago.
Old photographs, books and pamphlets
Tumble out of bookshelves and box-beds,
Reminding me of the importance
Of old familial ties.
It seems October flies ahead
In memories fleeting, sometimes lingering
Ready to be swept up like dust
Otherwise scattered through the air.
Autumn cleaning, unlike Spring,
Is not a time of hope or new beginnings.
Clearing one’s home of clutter, it is not
About what to keep and what to discard.
In October’s cleaning I find
Fragments and memories of lives to treasure
Long after they’ve gone,
A lesson in living.
Then, there was one who was October-born
And died in the Spring of this very year.
My old childhood friend and former husband
We hadn’t been in touch these past many years.
But like with old friends, a sudden word or hello
Is enough to reconnect where we last left off,
Autumn cleaning will bring back lives and loves
That Spring is too capricious to care for.
Postscript: Unprofessional PR agency idiot bosses are at it again. They have once again meddled with WordPress and made the heading of the verse in this blog post bold and patchy, just like they did long ago with many of my blog posts’ headlines! They just cannot leave me alone and in peace, and I can’t wait to have them booted out of the advertising and brand communications industry along with their cronies.
Peripatetic Perch 