V. S. Khandekar

Ajun Yeto Vas Phulana V. S. Khandekar

THE FLOWERS STILL SMELL: WHAT IS LIFE? IT IS A MANIFESTATION OF ALL SEASONS RIGHT FROM THE SPRING TO THE AUTUMN, FROM THE SHADING OF ALL LEAVES TO THE APPEARANCE OF NEW FOLIAGE, EVERYWHERE. THE TENDER YEARS OF CHILDHOOD ARE LIKE SAPPY STORIES WHILE THE OLD AGE IS A TRAGEDY. LIFE AWAKENS WITH LOTS OF DREAMS, GETS READY TO CARRY THE CROSS OF MANHOOD AND ENDS INTO A TRAGIC ORDEAL, HOW, WHEN, NO ONE CAN TELL. STILL, THE FRAGRANCE FROM THE PAST GIVES CONFIDENCE TO LIVE LIFE AGAIN WITH NEW ENTHUSIASM. THESE SHORT ESSAYS REVEAL THE FACT THAT THE HUMAN LIFE IS ACTUALLY A SEARCH FOR THE LOST FRAGRANCE OF LIFE. THESE SHORT ESSAYS ARE DISCERNING, ACUTE YET THEY HAVE A DELICACY IN THEIR COMPOSITION. IN A WAY, THEY ARE REVEALING HIS TRUE SELF, THROUGHOUT THEM HE HAS TRIED TO DIGEST THE BITTERNESS TO WHICH THE AUTHOR IN HIM WAS EXPOSED. HE ELUCIDATES THE INNER CORES OF LIFE WITH HIS INTROSPECTIVE VISION. HIS WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS GIVE REASSURING STRENGTH TO THOSE WHO ARE FADE UP WITH LIFE, WHO HAVE LOST THE FRAGRANCE IN THEIR LIFE. THESE WORDS MAKE LIFE TOLERABLE FOR THEM. THESE ESSAYS CARRY ALL THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF HIS PROGRESS AS AN ESSAYIST. THEY ARE HIS INTENSE EXPOSITION OF A LIFE FULL OF EXPERIENCES