Monday, April 4, 2011

Sweet lime-green

This poem is dedicated to all the people I have met during my college life. Someone once told me that college life is the best part of our lives. All I want to say to you all is……. thanks a lot for proving that someone right.


4 years ago all of this started

An endless journey it seemed

But slowly it shifted its colors

From an ominous black to a sweet lime-green.


It was hard at first, wasn’t it?

To start to mingle in the crowd

Some were too shy to speak up

And some were simply too proud.


But then we got to know each other

And everything seemed so easy

It was like having the thrill of a roller-coaster

Without the feeling to get dizzy.


Then the trust slowly started to build

We knew that when the moment came

We could count on the ones around us

To share with us the blame.


Then we started hanging out

And partying quite a lot

All shyness, pride and ego

Thankfully, everything was soon lost.


We met many people along the path

And befriended some of them

People we knew we could hug and cry

When nothing seemed the same.


There came times when our unity and strength

Everything was fiercely tested

But be it proxy, cheating or just bunking a class

Everyone was always interested.


But today we all stand at crossroads

As everything is about to end

We will all go separate ways

But these memories will always remain.


Thinking about all this stuff I said

I hang my head in regret

The only thing that I know for sure is

None of this I can ever forget.


That’s why I want to thank you all

For making my journey the way it’s been

And most importantly for shifting its color

From an ominous black to a sweet lime-green.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Something I couldn't explain...

As another lightning scarred the sky

I felt the end fairly nigh

But it all started so normal today

Then why did it have to end this way.


I woke at 5 and washed my face

And prepared to enter the daily race

Reached the school a little late

But I guess it was all decided by fate.


Half day through, the world had changed

The little world that I used to call mine

The shrieks, the cries were all that remained

After the interference, supposedly divine.


I was alone and I was scared

I felt a sudden tinge of pain

I don’t know why this feeling flared

I guess it was something I couldn’t explain.


I searched the mangles for my lost school friends

I already felt at the end of the rope

With all lost, I closed my eyes

Hoping against every shred of hope.


I searched and searched till the time I could

Until my legs gave away

And that is when I understood

All I could really do was pray.


I did pray to you, oh god.

I begged my life of thee

Then why didn’t you stop that wave, almighty?

As it slowly engulfed me.


Tears rolled down my cheek at that time

Seeing all my efforts go in vain

I wasn’t afraid ‘coz I was dying, I was just sad

That it was something I couldn’t explain.


NOTE: This poem is dedicated to all the tsunami affected people in Japan. You people did not deserve what you had to endure. Rest in peace. The whole world is praying for you.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Maa

NOTE: This poem is only for those people who understand bengali. If you do not understand bengali then please get a translator. enjoy! :)

Jokhon amar keo chilona, tokhon chile tumi
Ekhon amar shob hoyeche, tao je acho tumi
Keno ei kotha ta tumi bujhe nite chao na
Je keo aashuk aamar jibone, tumi je amar maa.

Tumi na thakle o maa amar, aaj ki hotam ami?
Sheta bhebe aaj o tomay shobaar opor maani
Ja hi kori, jotoi kharap, shob haashi mukhe mene nao
Ektu boko, ektu raago, kintu khoma-o to kore dao

Betha pele, koshto hole, oshrudhara jhore
Kintu tomar chobi chokher theke, betha teo na nore
Shobar aage bhetor theke awaj aashe maa
Betha hocche, koshto hocche, aar shoite parchi na.

Kokhono – kokhono, bujhe na bujhe, koshto diyechi na?
Raag koro na, aaj bolchi, khoma kore diyo maa.
Kache theke bujhte parini, maa je kake bole
Koto kichu amay shekhate tumi, khela khelar chole.

Aaj o amar mone aache shei school theke badi fire
Tv chaliye khabar pate, khawa dheere – dheere
Tumi bolte, keno ektu taratari khete parish na?
Ami boltam, michki heshe, bas aar 5 minute maa.

Aaj o phone-e shobar aage, jigesh koro tumi
Eto ratre ki korchi, kemon aachi aami.
Ami boli, bhalo aachi maa, ei khabar gelo pet-e
Tumi bolo miche bolish na, ja boshe pod khete.

Maa go amar, shob jano tumi, shob je bujhte paro
Bhalo theko maa shara jibon, bhalo besho amay aaro
Tomay chada jibon ta kemon hobe, aaj – o bhabte pari na
Ki korbo, bolo shuni, tumi je amar maa.

I love you maa!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Think....

Have we ever stopped to wonder why the star-stricken night sky, with a calm breeze blowing across our face can soothe us while overwhelming us with tears of nostalgia at the same time? And when the same breeze gets a bit angry and one, just one, bolt strikes across the sky, we are scared. Scared of the unearthly presence. Why?

When our own younger sister / brother demands us of a toy, a present or some money, we reach out, with all our heart and give them more than what they asked for, not thinking for one second about the insane amount of money spent. But when a young boy / girl of about the same age asks us for a mere insignificant penny, we shy out, pretend not to hear them or simply shoo them off. Didn’t we pledge all Indians to be our brothers and sisters? Then why?

When you think of something so ingenuously cryptic that none of your friends can understand and then you proceed to explain them the details, savoring each moment of triumph, that’s the best thing that has happened to this world after sliced bread. And when one of your friends says something that appeals a bouncer to you at first glance, you say with a straight face “Get real, man. This ain’t a fairy tale”. Doesn’t he/she deserve a shot at explaining? Then why?

When one of our friends starts to get a bit wet around the corners of his/her eyes after watching an emotional scene or at the pang of failure, he is a fragile wimp. And when the same thing happens with us, how come there is always something in our eye? Why? Where is the fragility now?

When we are young and knew nothing of this world, we always longed for (and even cried at times for) our parents the moment they went out of sight. And today, when we are all grown up all we ever want to do is get as far away from our parents as possible just because their presence makes us feel awkward? Why? Where did that feeling go?

But do we ever stop to think how our behavior makes the other person feel? If you ask me, then the night didn’t want to scare us. Maybe it just got a bit more playful. The innocent child, maybe she needed some money so that she could make her younger sibling happy. Maybe that friend spoke up in such a fashion just because he/she wanted to join in the conversation desperately but couldn’t find any way to speak up. Maybe the friend who started crying had a nostalgic moment seeing the scene in the movie that he never ever wanted to remember again. Maybe our parents find it just hard to believe that their son/daughter is growing up so fast and don’t want to be left behind all forgotten in the race.

It’s a fact that we do change along the way as we grow up, but is it correct if that change makes us a completely different person than we all once were? Yes, it may be a good way for us to deal with the changing world, but have we ever thought what that would make those people feel who loved the old “us”?

Think about it.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Remember me?

I am the useless blabber

That you used to have every night

With two friends over the phone

When, with a third, you had a fight.

Remember me?


I am the purple sky

That you would so lovingly gaze

But as time passed and you got older

I was lost somewhere in the haze

Remember me?


I used to be the cheerful shout

Declaring “Mom! I am home”

But now I am nothing but a dull thud

Of you hitting the soft foam

Remember me?


I am the soft whispers

That went on in that mind of yours

But slowly you got too busy

And I got washed along with the daily chores.

Remember me?


I am the joy that you felt

While watching your favorite cartoon show

But now I am mere pangs of awareness

That the newsflashes bestow.

Remember me?


I am the satisfaction that you felt

When mom fed you with her hands

But you lost me in the restaurants

As forks and spoons took their stands.

Remember me?


Why did you have to forget us?

Cast us completely away?

We could have managed to stay somehow

With those responsibilities under-way.


You are a changed person now

But you were better before

Think about what all you are missing out

It was long, but not that long ago.