In order to sleep at night, I turn off the lights in the room; making it pitch-dark.

When I do that, I suddenly feel uneasy of the clock ticking away.

 

My father started working at a factory at sixteen.

First, he worked for a factory of asbestos products.

Asbestos is known to have an incubation period of 20 to 50 years.

My father, now seventy, still works at a factory.

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It always seemed to me that my father was afraid of death. 

 

In the course of investigation, I came to realize that I myself,

who had been spending much time at the factory since I was 5,

have inhaled more than a certain amount of asbestos.

It is only when I began to dread the presence of asbestos -

ʻthe quiet time bombʼ - inside me that I understood my fatherʼ s fear of death.

 

When I go to sleep at night, I turn off all the lights.

The moment I do so, the ticking of the clock creeps into my mind.

Ever since I became aware of this bomb called asbestos, the passage of time has been

an unpleasant one. My father must be facing this unpleasantness too.

 

My father is fond of emerald green; it is a colour that signifies security and safety in the factory.

On the surface of the bomb, I depicted with utmost care the images of asbestos seen through

a microscope with this significant shade of emerald green.

 

I put into this work the anxiety, fear and tension that my father and I share in common.