In the waterfall of time
that brilliant droplet in the corner
That’s me
In the evolutionary chain
the resplendent link
connecting my father and my daughter
That’s me
The distinct dark dot
in the photograph of
the sea of humanity?
That’s my face
Just as the plane lands
you see the cars crawling like a line of ants
It’s me, most definitely me
in the fourth car
Individuality is translated from his Tamil original by the author
G. B. Prabhat is a bilingual writer who writes in English and Tamil. His debut collection of Tamil poems, “Engiruntho Vanthavai” (Of Unknown Origin), was published in October 2020 by Cre-A, a leading Tamil publisher. Prabhat’s first English novel, "Chains," was published in 2000 to critical acclaim. "Eimona," his second novel published in 2006, is a dystopian story set in modern India that has been compared with "Brave New World" and "1984". His third novel, "Early Indications," is the story of five children christened 'the Five geniuses' by their doting first school teacher. Prabhat's English short stories and other work have appeared in Asia Literary Review, The Hindu, The Indian Express, Liquid Imagination, Fiction On The Web and Unlikely Stories. Some stories have been translated into Telugu, Hindi and Punjabi. Prabhat lives in Chennai, India.
