November, 1996 stands out in my memory because that was my first encounter with the concept of death. My parents told my brother and me that our uncle had passed on and that we’d be going to Bombay to visit our aunt for a while. I knew what death meant. I had squished the life out of way too many insects to be completely oblivious to the idea of death. Yet, I believed death for humans was way different than death of insects and animals. I hadn’t seen other ants mourn for the ant I had killed. The ants just carried on with their task, when an occasional ant would stop and nudge the dead ant and it would just continue with the task at hand. When dogs got run over, the other dogs never stood around the dead dog and paid their respects. When we went to stay with our aunt after the funeral, I would always see her crying. I had never known her to cry. When we returned home, my brother came in to our room and sat across me and asked me, “Have you ever thought of what will happen to us if...
