The reference is from my sister Mal's photo and the work is in oil on paper sized 9'' by 12''.This tree is next to the window of my room and there lives a koel, the Indian singing bird, singing all day till dusk (can you find the birdie here?!).The koel has been living in this tree for many years now. There has not been any change in his daily routine. He wakes up as early as 2 am in the morning and starts singing kuhoo kuhoooo and there used to be a reply to that call from another koel from a nearby tree (probably his soul mate?) and the musical conversations went on and on for the day. But for the last one year, the birdie doesn't get a reply. I have no idea what happened to the soul mate, may be she left the place or the inevitable happened. But the bird continued to sing in spite of not getting any reply, waking up every day at the same time with the same spirit, not even thinking if some one was listening to his song. The street is buzzing with about 20 people crossing the tree every minute, but I have my doubts if anyone has really paid attention to the bird's beautiful song! Small wonders of nature have been conveniently ignored in our busy life.The koel has a lot of similarity with one of the most special men in my life, my grandfather, who was a great musician. He lost his wife at the age of 28, was left with a toddler and an infant to take care and he never remarried! He brought up his girls and continued to live with a detachment for the world around, but with a great passion for his music till the age of 90. He taught music to many and his music lives till today through his students. He taught me music when I did not realize the value of what he taught, I let him down by not doing my best. He probably felt sad about it inside but never said anything aloud. It is a regret that I live with. When I had the opportunity to spend time with him during his last few days, I apologized for letting him down and it made me feel little better....It is never too late to say sorry isn't it? :-)
