Johannes Manjrekar

Jacarandas Are a Deep Shade of Blue

I was thirteen or fourteen and the jacarandas were in full bloom. I was walking along a straight tar road, the evening sunlight spraying off it like water. A football game was in progress to the right, and it being football and the men mostly young, there was a constant stream of shouts and calls for passes.

On the other side of the road the jacarandas silently bloomed and I was thirteen or fourteen.

Out of nowhere it occurred to me that some day jacarandas would be blooming and football players shouting and I would know nothing about it then or ever again and suddenly I was overwhelmed by the thought of ever again and began to run, run as fast as I could and I kept running till I got home and my lungs were bursting and the pain felt good because I could feel it and because all it was was just a burning in the chest.

evening tea
my parents talk
about their day