there is a tomato plant
behind selvi akka’s building
growing out of an old blue paint bucket
split down one side
like somebody meant to throw it away
and forgot halfway through.

selvi akka says she never planted it.

selvi akka also says
ilaiyaraaja once ate bajji
from her cousin’s tea stall in kodambakkam
so you can believe what you want.

every year
right after the first hard summer rain
that little plant climbs the back wall again.

weak-looking at first.
leaves hanging tired
like they got no business trying.
then one hot week later
it is everywhere
twisting through the grill gate
like the whole place belongs to it.

last year
a boy with a camera
stood near the drainage canal almost half an hour
taking pictures of it.

selvi akka watched from upstairs
without saying a word.

that was unusual.

the corporation workers complain about it.
kids knock the green tomatoes down with chappals.
one man from the first floor
tried plucking a few once
and selvi akka came downstairs in her nightie
shouting so loud
every window opened at the same time.

funny thing is
nobody there even cooks with tomatoes that much anymore.

still
every summer
that plant comes back
acting like it knows something.

like
it knows something
the rest of us don’t.