A lit candle placed on an ornate, decorative plate brings a touch of life and elegance reminiscent of traditional India.

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Means, motive, and opportunity. #NoVisa — A life in India 3

In the 19th century, candles had to be regularly trimmed to promote steady burning. People of that time used snuffers to either shorten the wick or smother the flame. Nowadays, the manual action is replaced by self-combustion: the unwanted snuff gets trimmed by itself through incineration by fire. A compassion-free, modern cremation, as it were.

How convenient. How efficient.

It is said that the word candle came to us from Middle English candel, from Old English and from Anglo-Norman candele. Both terms derived from the Latin candēla, from candēre: ‘to shine’. It is easy to outshine colleagues who aren’t nearly as good, to cast a shadow over them. Not a game, definitely not worth the candle.

Some shine. Others envy.

How much does a life cost? Abruptly, it can be snuffed out. Predators cast the fatal blow in full light, leaving a trail of deafening silence. Responsible, innocent, guilty, condemned? Who’s to blame? And to whom is it a benefit, or if you speak Latin rather than Tamil: Cui bono?

Why stamp someone out? Because they can. 

That day, a lit candle with a wide, dark band around its middle placed on an ornate, decorative plate was bringing a touch of life and elegance reminiscent of traditional India. 

There you go: means, motive, and opportunity.

Namaste.

#NoVisa — A life in India 3

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