WHEN I WAS LEFT ALONE
The waves crashed into the rocks, about a couple of hundred feet below. White suds flew into the air, some returned to the waves to become a part of the next set of crests. Others landed on rocks and turned to water drops. They would stay there till the sun came out the next day and wiped them dry. I stood by the railing with my steaming cup of filter coffee. The chill in the evening air caused the coffee-scented vapours to hold their shape a few seconds longer. I didn’t blow at the coffee to cool it before taking a sip. It would manage that by itself given the space and time. And there was plenty of time here in Kannur, Cannanore for the British. Plenty of time to do nothing. For two days I had slept waking up only to dig into puttu - kadla and appams and stew fragrant with fresh coconut. R and her friends would spend hours at the table chatting about this, that and the other. You are going back to sleep? one of them asked me as I rose from the table after lunch. It was a fair que