The Flowers Still Smell: What is life? It is a manifestation of all seasons right from the spring to the autumn, from the shading of all leaves to the appearance of new foliage, everywhere. The tender years of childhood are like sappy stories while the old age is a tragedy. Life awakens with lots of dreams, gets ready to carry the cross of manhood and ends into a tragic ordeal, how, when, no one can tell. Still, the fragrance from the past gives confidence to live life again with new enthusiasm. These short essays reveal the fact that the human life is actually a search for the lost fragrance of life. These short essays are discerning, acute yet they have a delicacy in their composition. In a way, they are revealing his true self, throughout them he has tried to digest the bitterness to which the author in him was exposed. He elucidates the inner cores of life with his introspective vision. His words and expressions give reassuring strength to those who are fade up with life, who have lost the fragrance in their life. These words make life tolerable for them. These essays carry all the signs and symptoms of his progress as an essayist. They are his intense exposition of a life full of experiences.जीवन म्हणजे चैत्रपालवी ते पानगळीपर्यन्तच्या वैविध्यपूर्ण ऋतुंचा अविष्कार. यातलं बालपण म्हणजे सुरस कथा तर वृद्धत्व शोकान्तिका! स्वप्नं घेऊन जन्मलेलं जीवन घर-गृहस्थीचे क्रूस वागवत सुळावरची पोळी केव्हा होतं कळत सुद्धा नाही. असं असलं तरी गतकालच्या सुकलेल्या फुलांचा सुगंध माणसास जगण्याची उभारी देत रहातो. माणसाचं सारं आयुष्य हरवलेल्या जीवनगंधाचा पुनर्शोधच असतो, हे समजाविणारे वि. स. खांडेकरांचे हे लघुनिबंध. लालित्याबरोबर मार्मिकता घेऊन येणारे.व्यक्तिगत जीवनातील कटुता पचवत लिहिले गेलेले हे निबंध एका अर्थाने लेखकाचा आत्मशोधच! या निबंधातील खांडेकरांची अन्तर्मुख वृत्ती वाचकांना जीवनाचे अंतरंग अशा रितीने उलगडून दाखवते की ज्यामुळे असह्य स्थितीतून मार्गक्रमण करु इच्छिणार्यांना ’अजून येतो वास फुलांना’... असा आश्वासक आधार मिळतो, जीवन सुसह्य वाटू लागतं! खांडेकरांच्या लघुनिबंध लेखन विकासाच्या पाऊल खुणा घेऊन येणारे हे निबंध म्हणजे अनुभव संपन्न जीवनाचं उत्कट भाष्यच!
