The wire

"Ektu aste katha bol", Rita spoke in a very serious tone.
Amit, who had gone to room 101 for collecting income-tax forms, was a little taken aback. Sure, he was asking in high decibels whether anyone in that room had access to the forms, yet something in Rita's tone seemed amiss. Yes, she was talking on the landline but the room was a large one! Someone standing at the door would have to shout so that the everyone could hear him. On learning that the forms were not in 101, Amit closed the door and headed back to his room. He was constantly plagued by her tone.
What is she thinking? Maharani naki?
He felt a little bad for himself. He had been wooing Rita for a couple of days and she had nicely adjusted herself on thin wire of giving in and not yielding. This was exactly the best thing Amit liked about romance. Any answer away from the wire meant the romance was over. But Rita's tone today was a little off-beat. In his head all he could see was Rita viewing him as just another preme pora admirer.
To hell with re-kindling romance with you!
He felt he must have lifted her a little too far from the ground in the last few days.
You are beautiful only if I write so about you.
He wanted to feel light. Rita had always been interested in him. He liked her too. But he could never fall for anyone who had already fallen for him. Thus he had always kept turning her down. Now it seemed that the wheel had turned.
No way! I haven't fallen for you.
He came back to his office and turned on Whole Lotta Love . Higher the notes reached, farther the heaviness went away.
Nah! I'm alright.

Amit lit a cigarette. What if all we needed was nicotine!

Boi

katha, aj boi er perono pata;
tomar, r amar. adou haat na pora
holde kagojer mishti gondhe
hajar hajar swabde bheshe beracche aj-o
na bola ahetuk laaj-e dhaka
joto bujhe neoya.

kobi seje kobi hote ami chaina
sorolipi na jene chaina gaite gaan
na chilo gola, na chilo chhondo
kintu chilo rupkathar gaynar baksho
se gayna aj amar swarthakata, ahonkar
raat er snigdho sparshe alor alonkar
samay kuriye rekheche ja chili tui
se boi amar, chapa akkhor gulo tui.

tate ache abdar, 
ache gaan, 
ache thakumar jhulir
tirthasthan.

Ojon er epith r opith

Raktim : kon gaan sala shuru hoy "get out of my life, why don't you babe" bole!

Swapan : ha ha. Mad men er choice of music niye kono katha hobe na.

Raktim : sala maagi gulo gota prithibi jure chele der same abostha koreche.

Swapan : at all time, at all space. tai to boli meye ra bhagoban!

Raktim : break up kore eto shanti paoa jabe bhabini.

Swapan : are hya. abar notun keu asbe, abar case khabi.

Raktim : r jai kori, nijer ghore dhokabo na. sala ghore dhoke to mone kore amar lifestyle orai thik korbe.

Swapan : eta barabari hoye galo. emon bhab korchis jeno bhalo kichu hoyna preme tor sathe.

Raktim : aj kal kichui bhalo hoy na re bhai. Interest tai chole geche. initially sob i makhon thake. tarpor amar pechone loha dhoke!

Swapan : Suchitra meye ta bhalo chilo. tor proti taan o chilo. tui egiyeo egoli na.

Raktim : ki kore egotam? ja-i katha hoto seta giye Priya ke bolto. r ei Priyao kom sheyana na! sobar samne eshe oi katha gulo amay bolto, "tui naki eta bolechis?"

Swapan : bechara tui.

Raktim : orom pet patla meye er sathe thaka jay na. Show off korte chaito je Raktim katha bole or sathe. korbi kor but etuku bujhbi na kon katha ta tor janyo exclusively Raktim bolche!

Swapan : kintu tor proti taan tao chilo chorom jau bol.

Raktim : char to! osob taan amar dorkar nei. Etodin hoye galo ektao moner moto meye pelam na re!

Swapan : se kirokom?

Raktim : Sundori kintu setai tar most attractive quality na. Intelligent kintu innocent. Smart athocho careless ...

Swapan : E abar ...

Raktim : chup kor. Sob bojhe but with indifference, khamkheyali but organised. Boi pore. Bhalobasha chay. Eternity te biswas kore amar moto.

Swapan : Tor pechone loha kano dhoke nijer katha gulo shunlei bujhe jabi.

Raktim : Satyi ki erom keu hoy na? jar kicchu eshe jay na kono kichu niye. Taka, naam niye matha ghamay na kintu kaj korte chay.

Swapan : tui nijeke khunjchis meyer madhye. ki kore pabi?

Raktim :  Khunjchi to kobe theke. Sobai eshe haway miliye jay. tader jagyo hoyar chestao korechi etobar. Spontaneously ekta prem asbe...simultaneously. purono doner premer moto. Innocent.

Swapan : Tham to bal. boke jacche ja icche tai.

Raktim : dole dodul dole jhulonay. bujhli?

Swapan : Amar Uttam Kumar re! Katha na peye antlamo marche.

Raktim : ki r bolbo? tui kamon meye chas bol.

Swapan : ami bibahito re bokachoda! tui ei stage e poucha age.

Raktim : ei to arale dhuke geli! ekhon khnochano jabe na r.

Swapan : nijeke khnujis na bhai. anyo taste er ekta manush er theke nijeo to koto kichu shikhte parbi.

Raktim : baad de tui. ami nijeke edi odik khnuje berai na. Ami innocent na. tai innocence khnujchi.

Swapan : tui sob kichui peyechis. kintu jokhon nijer deoyar samay ashe tui paliye jash. somparke thakis. kintu jekhane thakar sekhane thakis na. r toke tor premika ra khub bhalobesheche bolei toke charte deri kore. orao berote chay. ora bujhte pare tui nei. kintu ora tor bhalobashao to dekheche. tai samay nay toke charte. Sure hote.

Raktim : Sei sob samay gulor tahole ki significance jokhon tara thake na kintu ami thaki?

Swapan : Dari-palla niye boshle ojon ei sudhu chokh porbe. Tor o. R tor khodder er o.

Raktim : tui kokhono chokh rakhisna ojon e?

Swapan : Rakhi. Setao dorkar. Kintu tor moto naively rakhina. Majhe customer ke kichu free te diye di. Customer barbar firey ashe. hoyto oi free tukur janyoi.

Raktim : Batela rakh. jotoi sexy katha barta bol, ami ei golper hero.

Swapan : Bajar to heroine der. Byabsha korbi to properly initiated ho.

Raktim : se r bolte. anyway ami haar manchi. tomar sathe torko kore labh nei. tui kayda kore amar thik point gulo ke tor mishti kathay dheke dibi.

Swapan : Single achis. Bhalo achis. Nekamo bondho kor. Onek kaj ache. Chol bikele cha er table e dekha hobe.

How it is in the family

Anirban : I know there never will be any dearth of women.

Sneha : There won't be. Nor for you, neither for the other playboy.

Anirban : Come on, didi. I'm not a playboy. I'm just a narcissist.

Sneha : A proud one, it seems.

Anirban : See, I can't help it. I don't like when women approach me. It has to be from my side.

Sneha : Tor janyo oi meyei hobe jar janyo tui head over heels hobi.

Anirban : Otherwise prem korar mane ki?

Sneha : Ratul ta ja paka hoyeche!

Anirban : Yes. He is a dude.

Sneha : All I want is that he doesn't get hurt in the process. You know, there are girls too who think like him. Heartbreaks are always in the news.

Anirban : He doesn't seem like a heart-break sort of  a fellow.

Sneha : Yes, that gives me hope.

Both laugh.

Sneha : Mesho to tor biye niye chintito.

Anirban : Ei re, ki boleche?

Sneha : Baba ke bolchilo tor biye deoya naki dorkar. Meshor ei kaj ta ache korar. Ami bollam eta tor kaj.

Anirban : Amay khub ekta bole na. Tell me is it even the time? I'm just twenty-seven.

Sneha : Ektai life. You should enjoy it. Amay bolle ami to ekkhoni palai biye theke. Dayityo r dayityo.

Anirban : Dhur. Koto kichu korar ache r bari te ekhoni chinta korche.

Sneha : Tor bari practical. At least toke niye. Beshi kichu bolbe na tai. Ami bollam esob niye oke bolo na. dakho ki kore. biye kore, single thake, live together kore..tar por bhablam beshi hoye jacche. Erpor LGBT bolle hoye galo.

Anirban : Na na. Otoo kichu na. Emnitei tension kore. Tobe ekhon onek kom bole.

Sneha : Wine taste korli?

Anirban : Nah. Ekhono icche hoyni.

Sneha : Dhur. Tui boring.

Anirban : Certainly. I just look interesting.

Both laugh.

Sneha : Amar sob kota bhai ja hoyeche!

Anirban : Tomar bhai-phontar effect.

Ani's phone rings.

Anirban : Mashi phone korche. Cholo gate er samne jai.

Winged feet

And where are you going today?
Climbing the same buses,
The same mountain
Where, my friend are you headed?

What if the Sun plays with clouds today?
Blue, black and grey
And raindrops along the way
But where are you headed today?

I'm off to the green fields
Through the notes of the winds
Leaving the desks, chairs and papers behind
I'm leaving for one good time.

So it is up to you
Take my hand
For you too, my friend
Are alone in your dreams
Just like me
And I'm leaving today
Leaving necessities behind.

Pablo

Glory be to the mothers
Famous and infamy-laden sons
Ones those were called Pablo
For it is a dangerous name
And yet a glorious one too
And O Mothers! Glory is yours.

Artists they have been
With colors they have played
Pastels and bullets, their pencils
But Picasso isn't the only name.

So who is Pablo Escobar my friend?
Where does he lie when the guitar plays?
Along the shores of blue and grey
Amidst the files and burnt evidence
You dug deep for the fountain's base
Where does he ride when the guitar plays?

What Not to be! (A severe crisis looms before us)

Intellectual. The once-positive word has been stigmatized beyond repair.
I read an article about Mamata Banerjee's electoral win which hailed her as the real "mass"-leader, by
blaming all that has befallen on today's Bengal on the hypocrisy of the "dhooti-clad (wtf!), Kolkata-centric, Left-spoken upper caste" Bengali. The article was fun to read, no doubt. It, I felt, correctly diagnosed the disease. But the treatment that it welcomed, is horribly wrong!

Read : How Mamata has supposedly killed the gentleman of Bengal

Okay. So Mamata Banerjee has been voted back in power. She has more seats than she dreamed of, or she wouldn't have stayed inside her Kalighat house till Judgement Day! Anyway, her brand of politics has proved its mettle once again. The "intellectuals" must be wondering about the WHY and HOW aspects of  this result. Someday, political parties will wake up and know the answer. Let that be.

The problem is elsewhere. If in reality, alienating the educated class starts equaling retaining of power, we are in for a treat : A democracy that will tear itself via civil war. Enough has been said
about the current polarization continuum that is sweeping the country. But why are people actually getting polarized even in this age of technology? If everyone eats at the same restaurant, drinks the same coffee, rides the same cabs and sink into social media through identical smart phones, where does this seemingly connected generation begin to get disconnected?  As more and more politicians are investing into crass language and "humble background" to project their "mass-image", one can't help but notice that Indian politics has started to show self-similarity : What's happening in the states, is also happening on a large scale at the national level.

Our (by this I mean, the new generation) top leaders are fiery orators, cult figures and (so that the "mass" audience gets the point) "Dramebaaz". While dharna might be a few people's strong zone, selling tea becomes someone's jackpot mantra. In between all this, the middle class of India is allegedly getting "polarized". But how fickle this polarization can be, was proved by the assembly elections of Delhi and Bihar. So after religious polarization failed, neo-nationalism emerged.
But unaffected by the Central politics, West Bengal assembly elections took place on an entirely different theme : Development vs Corruption.

While the incumbent voiced development, the hopefuls pointed at corruption in those very claimed development policies (along with several other issues, of course). This is funny because even kids would not make such mistakes. You cannot criticize any populist policy that you never brought into action and take on a mass leader. This is one of several lessons the old pseudo-communists have to learn.  But then, there were other issues too. Scams, video footage, public threats... nothing seems to have provided the hopefuls with their potent weapon. How sad it is that morality has left West Bengal for good!

There is a cliched saying that "Everything is fair in love and war". But surely everything is NOT okay with a state where accepting bribes is accepted. It is neither love nor war. It is only lethargy. It is mental inaction of the mass. No doubt, their leaders show middle finger to law and order.
If the gentleman is silenced by these powerful orators, it calls for the truly educated to make the education count. It calls for a revolt. It calls for boycotts. But it certainly does not call for a 20th century style revolution. It truly demands its intellectuals to fight back. The war has begun. The fortifications have started to fall.

Any society must be led by the educated. Our politicians might be cunning but they are NOT educated. The country will do much better with an Educated dramebaaz rather than his/her uneducated counterpart. The earlier we learn this lesson, the better our future will be.

I am a fair-skinned, tall, practising-Brahmin who happens to be a PhD student in Physics. What this means is, I am one of the most privileged persons in this country. Statistically speaking, my sort is expected to face least hatred from our compatriots. Ideally, this should not be the case. But well, ideals don't stand on immoral lands. Sadly, this goes both ways. Seventy years of self-rule has given power to countless oppressed voices today. So it is as easy to put blame for the tortured history of the "lower castes" on the evil Brahmins, as it is easy to blame the country's present on its politicians. Let us for once accept the truth. The lower castes were oppressed for the same reason the Hindus once were and the whole nation once was : There was an Oppressor, who simply was more powerful than the Oppressed! Using today's style of oratory, the "lower castes" did not have big enough balls to fight against the Brahmins or the Kings. Later these "mighty" Kings surrendered to the Mughals and ultimately to the West. Don't be fooled by the hug your PM gives to the US Prez. The Predator is still eating its prey.
It is absolutely right to ask for demolition of the caste system. But it is useless to put the blame on the "Upper castes" for the genetic inferiority complex that you suffer from. I agree, the real onus is upon the "Upper caste" to let go of their ridiculous hang-ups if a better India is to be produced. But overthrowing of this particular hierarchy has to be smooth, attainable through the only medium : EDUCATION. 

Half sentences

There is too much light nowadays
Nights are searching for new shades
My words once again have nowhere to go
And I'm a poet ready to miss the flow.

You sang to me when you were close by
And then you needed a newer alibi
Having grown up today I do realize
The dots never had meaning; they were shy.

The results are out; new kids on the block
I look back and find you steady like a rock
I was once there where the marbles still stay
As new footsteps count themselves, yearning for breath.

I wonder what lives on in actuality
The memories in me or our eroded footsteps;
 Or these letters and half-sentences
Or simply nothing since you never cared to stay.

Chutir rong

Robibar dupurer gondho,
Jodi chitrak hotam, chobi te bhashiye tultam
Shei chobi hoto lal,
Anyo rong jodi rakhtei hoy
Tahole kichu kalo, monder bhalo.
Hothat i bujhlam chutir rong lal,
Ei lal e dube ache poradhinotar anchol
Amar swabdochok aj boba
Amar swirdara bneke geche jonmer age
Jokhon ek hotyakarir Shonibar

Agamir sob chuti ke shekole bnedhechilo chirokal er moto.

Hay manush, hay Bangali, hay Bharatiyo
Tomar Raja ke marlo anyer proja
R tumi sudhui kandle, uthe darale na
Egole na, matha tulle na, araisho bochor.
Ki desh tumi, ki rong tomar,
Robibar dupur, chagol r murgir ahonkar!

 Doshir bichar korbe kon maha pnuthi?
 Kon rakhal kobe marbe bagh?
Amar r tomar itihash adote fyakashe lal
Tai ghure takano proyojon aj
Miche desh prem e nijdeke abar korcho poradhin
Angul tolo, nijer opor;
Ami r tumi kshoto-bhagyo, tai kichu kalo.

Author's note :

To give youself a context of this particular post, you may go through
the following links.

Your city still holds Histroy, albeit with neglect

The calm, yet no storm

Run them down

Run them down
Run them down like a lawn-mower
Run them down, ruin them
And make a fool out of them
For they deserve to purify this land;
It is their blood that we will lick
To know what valor is, death is, life is.

Rivers will flow backwards if they have to
For we will burn the seas to fit ourselves
Flags, red, yellow, blue will fly
As we step on the shores of humanity's past
The cannons will be loaded again
And now there won't be a finish line.

So run them down as you would
Run them down as they should!

Oh Woman!

I haven't written in a long time
And neither have the mountains moved
But they say that change is inevitable
Even though eternity leaves theories screwed.

I haven't walked by your side
For we were too busy for life
And now the Sun is shining again
But the cycles are being unlocked.

So the next time you meet a man
'Hope you make him sing to you
His tunes, not yours;
And the next time I meet a woman
I wish the clouds sweep us away
To memories, not yours.

And when the respective oceans will be crossed
I will take your hand at the horizon
For there will be no regret to hold us back anymore ...