I'm a shadow
I walk behind many leading men
and women
Along the dirty history of this city;
I don't rot, I see others choose
Hell over heaven, even earth!
I only follow, like I've since the beginning
And there might not be an end to my end.
I've seen men lose fortunes
And disintegrate into me
I have seen Venus burn
All forms of morality
And I've seen time flow by
On its own desires, unaffected
As the lanes of my traversed path
Have entangled and made the scholars say...
"History repeats itself!"
So many women have suffered heart aches
And have tried to redeem themselves with
better lovers;
So many poets have faltered on the lines
Lines of passion, of mistrust, of civilisation.
Yet does our Kolkata live, in its pale yellowish glory
With a few shadows like me, vigilantes.
I look at my palm, lines again
Sins? Yes, there are a few
But a shadow must not investigate
Light might be quite a harmful excitement!
So why must I feel bad of what I know?
I, myself am a carrier of darkness
For centuries, of inhuman truth and lies.
But I roam in the night, not alone... not alone
If I have sinned, so have you
If I have loved, so have you
If I have dared, so have you
If you have survived, so have I.
What if a lady broke a few thousand hearts
Half a century ago?
How many of those hearts were actually pure?
What if a woman breaks another heart
Tonight, in this city?
In this age of probability, what is purity?
For a poet, may be the night is romantic
For a helpless lover, it's a stranglehold
Pages bury themselves in each brick of your city
The shadow keeps learning, keeps bluffing,
Deep inside a vault, resides its very own secret.
I walk behind many leading men
and women
Along the dirty history of this city;
I don't rot, I see others choose
Hell over heaven, even earth!
I only follow, like I've since the beginning
And there might not be an end to my end.
I've seen men lose fortunes
And disintegrate into me
I have seen Venus burn
All forms of morality
And I've seen time flow by
On its own desires, unaffected
As the lanes of my traversed path
Have entangled and made the scholars say...
"History repeats itself!"
So many women have suffered heart aches
And have tried to redeem themselves with
better lovers;
So many poets have faltered on the lines
Lines of passion, of mistrust, of civilisation.
Yet does our Kolkata live, in its pale yellowish glory
With a few shadows like me, vigilantes.
I look at my palm, lines again
Sins? Yes, there are a few
But a shadow must not investigate
Light might be quite a harmful excitement!
So why must I feel bad of what I know?
I, myself am a carrier of darkness
For centuries, of inhuman truth and lies.
But I roam in the night, not alone... not alone
If I have sinned, so have you
If I have loved, so have you
If I have dared, so have you
If you have survived, so have I.
What if a lady broke a few thousand hearts
Half a century ago?
How many of those hearts were actually pure?
What if a woman breaks another heart
Tonight, in this city?
In this age of probability, what is purity?
For a poet, may be the night is romantic
For a helpless lover, it's a stranglehold
Pages bury themselves in each brick of your city
The shadow keeps learning, keeps bluffing,
Deep inside a vault, resides its very own secret.
