26 TP Sooraj, Chief News Photographer, The New Indian Express

MEMORIES…
It was a memento mori moment for me. I had handled several such grim assignments earlier, this one was eerie. I was on assignment at Amrita Hospital in Kochi ( 05-03-2024) to mark Sarang's 17th Birthday, resident of Attingal. Sarang died in a road accident on May 17 last year and his organs were donated to six persons. Sarang's parents were meeting Sheffin who has got the transplanted hand of Sarang.Even as I focused on the frames, thought of the inevitability of death struck me deep.The pain of bereavement, all thoughts flashed through my mind, like a mangled mess, in that one second. And then came clarity. It was catharsis of a different kind

The New Indian Express, March 2024