Wednesday, March 5

Unbeknown to me Irma had secretly commissioned Sunu NK to paint a portrait of Auo, based on the photograph we used in her funeral programme. I learned that he had embarked upon something but I suspected that he would paint a portrait of us, or of me.

Today he turned up with it, wrapped, and unveiled it. I found myself genuinely not knowing what to say. He had decided to mix cubism and a photorealistic approach. The effect startled, especially since he had captured her face very well. For some reason JG Ballard’s Crystal World came into my mind and wouldn’t leave.

I have no idea whether I like it or not. I took a picture of a large detail which I think I do like. This misses out some of the details of her body where she crystalises in a way that I feel disturbs me.

In the long term this might prove a very good thing. She deserves not to become a bland or anodyne memory.

And in other oddly connected news, I had spent today planning a short story which I had promised myself to write, which will feature Auo as the protagonist.

We live in a strange world.