The Twilight Years and My Mother

―Old age impacts us physically; the body withers, the organs give in one by one, our strength fails. But what about the senses deep inside? Do they age too? Or do they become even more sensitive, subtle, susceptible- like an orphan child, a yearning widow, a parched summer tree?‖ (The Cage) The subject of old age has always intrigued me. I was curious about what goes through the minds of people as they grow old and watch life slipping away. When my mother turned 70, we realized it was no longer safe for her to live alone and brought her to Mumbai to live with us. It was then that I began observing old age closely on a daily basis. Around that time, these stories began to take shape, gradually forming a series centered on the theme of old age.