New Delhi, June 21 -- With age, my mother slowly started to lose her hearing.

A few weeks before she died, she suddenly started hearing songs. Entire songs.

"Can't you hear them?" she asked us perplexedly as if our hearing was the problem. "I think someone is playing a cassette next door."

It wasn't just musical noise. She could even name the songs, songs like Asru Nodir Sudur Paarey. Rabindrasangeet, a genre that was a lifelong favourite. Male singers, female singers, sometimes a duet. She didn't mind the songs. She just wished they would not play on loop, over and over again.

My mother's mind was clear. Her memory was spot on. She didn't suffer from any mental confusion. She remembered more names than I did. So we didn't worry too m...