Another sultry afternoon,
On a white marbled verandah with columns….
Lying on the hammock bed suspended by iron ropes,
Staring out into the greens through the grilled railings…
My mind rambled off..to another day
More than two decades ago..
Another marbled verandah with columns
That would look over another patch of green through another grilled railing…
Diagonally opposite used to be my Godzilla tree..
The tallest in the garden…
Yet today so many years later
I find you here..
Within this epoch
Within the throb of a different heart
The land of you, my forefathers, and your forefathers before you.
Two dogs lie on the marble floor
And there is birdsong here..
Your voices reverberates
In my heart…
I am transported to the broad flat beds of the “Aalshekhana”
The card table of “Poshakkaamra”
My “kichumichu” cupboard..
Where you would store chips and chocolate for the little me.
And do you know a quarter century down the line, The mature me still finds bliss in “kichumichu” goodies…
Yes,
I find you both
Within me…
Here and there
Now and then
In song and music,
In singara and sandesh
In perspectives and outlooks
In life, far far beyond brick and mortar remains..
In the effervescence of living life…
And I find you here
In the waters of the rain fed Jalangi, your “khore”
In the flying grasshoppers on the roof here
In the earthworm mounds on wet earth
In the cackle of the geese flapping their wings in glee
In the sarpuria , doi, paantua…
Sweetness of the essence of one’s roots.
How can Walls separate the atoms and molecules that are my bridge to you..
How can the violence of greed disrupt the connect that flows from your veins to mine?
The frog croaks here
The snakes in the garden mate
The pregnant gray clouds breaks water
I am drenched
In love…
Will the fireflies light my path tonight
Like it did then
A thousand diamonds burning the night bright..
Your melody here
In a different home
But revered alike
In human warmth
I find you….
Written For Dada~ Didi( I addressed my grandparents MK Saurish Chandra Roy and Tusharika Debi as Dada and Didi )
From their Mambu. ( yours Ipsita ; My grandfather called me Mambu A flood of memories on a certain monsoon afternoon as I revisited Nadia district which is where my maternal grandparents are from)
Notes: “Alshekhana” translates literally into lazy room as indeed it was . A room to sit and idle away over long conversations with a gramophone in a corner.” Poshakkamra ” means changing room but it used to double up as the card room “Kichumichu” can best be translated to mean tidbits Jalangi~ a distributary of the River Ganges which flows through Nadia district and is locally known as khore.. Sarpuria~ famous sweet of Nadia
Obviously this is is written straight from the heart and the descriptors used make it even more vivid. Beautiful dear Ipsita! To many more!
Thank you so much
Such a delightful nostalgia laden piece ! Read it twice❤️
Thank you so much Di
Beautiful remembrance.
Prose with poetic touch
Thank you so much
Much appreciated Sir
This reminds me of the good old days with my dadu and thakuma. Your presentation is excellent!
Thank you so much Dada
So glad it resonated Gautam da
Lovely post….. grandparents were my best friend…….
Thank you so much Dada
Indeed Rajuda
Love the sudden rush of nostalgia. and the way the past comes alive through your poetry! Loved ones never die, they remain forever alive in our memories!
Thank you so much
Thank you s very much
Penned the picture so well, I was time ported with you to kichu michu land. Lovely lines. Eagerly await the next one.
Thank you so much beloved friend
Beautifully constructed nostalgia. Transports the reader to imagine lazy afternoons filled with love and tranquility.
Thank you so much Maam
Beautiful!! Great reminiscences!! Extremely pleasant, emotional n nostalgic write-up . Outstanding ink loved it Ipsita !
Thank you so much Biswarup, Much appreciated
This is wonderful. Quite different from the style of your writing. The spontaneous use of the Bengali words have made this even more touching. Alshekhana and Poshakkhana, I have never come across these words. These are wonderful invention of yours. Possibly, I shall try to use these in my writing. Goshakhana or Goshaghar is the one, that I knew.
Going through your writeup, I can make out that this is truly from your heart.
Congratulations
Dear Abhijit da,
Glad you liked it. Thank you so much for your kind words
And yes this is a bit of my personal history.
As for Poshak Kaamra and Alshekhana, these two roons have been adressed that way always.
If we go back to the origin, I can only hazzard a guess that poshakkamra was so called because it was the ante room to my grandfather”s bedroom where his Poshak was kept. His clothes, His cupboard, his aalna and dresser alond with the card table. It was his changing room. Alshekhana was liteally the room to rest. It had two large low flatbeds with a gramaphone in the corner. It was our adda ghar
Thank you so much. Warm Regards