Monday, May 23, 2022

To the spirit of Kolkata & its joie de vivre

...glued to the sights and sounds of the city, the North India based writer of this post living paralleled to colours and conundrums of the city. 

 

On a dewy petrichor of the post-rain afternoon

Kolkata was before her as a land of promise

A fusion of modernity and old school - unpolished. 


And, as the days passed…

Nudging her towards the art of free - wheeling conversation 

often prolonged;

that comes naturally to every bong*. 

 

Encouraging her – the river Hooghly 

To move forward

To have a soul that welcomes deep healing. 

 

The city, where her bhalo naam*

is as common as her daak naam*

Anushree - the roots of the name has Bengal fame. 

 

Remembrance of her mother’s amber blushed tea

On summer afternoon sultry

Nothing could remind her of Meerut more

…here after all - all are cha-khors*!

 

True...that her dadi’s gujiya* was second to none

But here she ferociously devoured herself on the sourness of the desserts

Peculiar were the taste…but so were the other things.

 

There were;

The Feluda series…delighting the adventure seeker in her

The Boi mela*…delighting the bookworm in her

The Bandor Topi*…cushioning the thin blooded like her

The Madhyamik*…engaging the philomath in her

 

Yellow were the cabs

And, so was she wrapped in colour of basant

The kind of yellow - of warmth of thousand splendid Sun

The kind of yellow that shows that the world may be blushy pink, envious green, gloomy grey, icy blue, but it could never ever be an impenetrable black!

 

And as more days passed by- she was witness to

That huge wave of humanity and human emotion

the day Durga Puja bisorjan happened

Humbling was the experience

As she too left behind her roots

 

…With the belief

Sighroi abar dekha hobe*.

............................................................ 

*Bong: A slang term for Bengalis

*Bhalo naam: Proper name used for official purpose

*Daak Naam : Pet name

*Cha-khors : Lovers of tea

*Gujiya : Indian sweet

*The Boi mela : Book fair 

*Bandor Topi : Monkey cap 

*Madhyamik : Examinations

* Sighroi abar dekha hobe : See you soon


PHOTO CREDIT- GOOGLE

 

No comments:

Post a Comment