Musings

‘I wonder if they remember me because I remember them. Like the two huge cacti standing like sentries on either side of the main door of a house in Campal. Or the mango tree under which a snake made its home near the primary school I went to. Or the canopy rain trees that saw me go to classes at Kala Academy. I remember them all. For when one leaves a place, it’s not only the people we leave behind that make memories. Memories are also made of sand and shells, sounds and smells, and creatures and trees.’

Ashlesha Athavale, daughter of well-known journalist and author Narayan Athawalay and author-translator Anuradha Athavale, was born in Mumbai. A passion for reading and writing led her to take up journalism as a career over two decades ago. She is also a translator and her works have appeared in the Mumbai University’s ‘Women’s Writings in Marathi – The Modern Short Stories’. She has also translated Siddharth Pardhe’s ‘Colony’.