End of Seinfeld

All good things must come to an end. So it happened that after few months of pure bliss I finally watched the very last episode of Seinfeld. This happens to me often. When I watch comething really good, once or twice I think to myself, what will I do when this comes to an end? It's not always that we see something which regales us, moves us or touches us in a very beautiful way. So, with a happy heart I saw the last episode of Seinfeld. Happy because they finished the series very well. A good end to a very good series. I suggest everyone to see Seinfeld. I have not seen another comedian with as acute a power of observation as Seinfeld. Of course he doesn't stop at observing. He presents it so well that we end up smiling in your heart. More often than not the smile will show up on your lips as well.

There are many other characters who have left a very lasting impression on my mind and heart. First (after Jerry Seinfeld himself) is George. You can google for their actual names, I prefer to call them by the character names. If you become a Seinfeld fanatic like me you will eventually get the extras, and when you watch them you will realise (late, as it happened to me) that George is an outstanding actor. He has done an amazing job, and it doesn't look that way. It looks so simple. May be it was simple for him, but hats off to him. Elaine is cute and sexy but not my favourite. But you got to hand it over to Kramer. My goodness. It's one of the most hilarious, touching characters I have ever seen. When you watch the serial you might ask yourself, "Wait a minute, that fellow said touching. I don't see anything touching in him". I wouldn't blame you, because it's my personal opinion, but I am not going to tell you either why or how I found that character touching. So these four characters with plethora of others will take you through some good time. Trust me.

I couldn't bear the thought of seeing the end of Seinfeld, so I opened Season 1 again and started seeing Episode 1, and voila, there are scenes which I don't remember seeing. I was so happy, I could actually do a re-run of Seinfeld. :-)

Seinfeld as a series or sitcom has become hugly popular since then. Its one of the greatest sitcoms of all times. Sienfeld himself has earned lots and lots of money out of the syndicate. So I guess has the other 3 actors. References, directly or indirectly has been made in all major sitcoms (movies? I am not sure) in US. Seinfeld did "I'm Telling You for the Last Time" before retiring from active television. A friend of mine says that he now performs in US, probably in Vegas.

You will find the DVDs in any good rental house/ stores. You can buy them off the net. When you are done with them and still craving for more, something extra, search for them on the net. There is a video of bloopers as well. I am an ashamed fan of the series and the characters. Yo Yo Ma.. :-)

Another photo from today's Hindustan Times.

So it is finally out. In a small write up in TOI today, with the title, "Last 8 minutes of Sharma's life", it said that the reinforcements arrived after 8 minutes of the beginning of the shoot-out. Sharma's life could have been saved had they been there right from the beginning.

To quote from the paper:
"It was sub-inspector Dharmender, the man in the tie, who went up to the flat first posing as a salesman and saw two suspects inside. Thinking that there were only two, he signalled Sharma to come up. However, what the team did not anticipate were the three men who came out from the adjoining room and fired at Sharma, who was holding one of the terrorists."

This is from the Hindustan Times. I cannot but feel a heavy loss whenever I think of that fateful day. M. C. Sharma died of heart attack triggered by heavy blood loss.

Salute to Mohan Chand Sharma

On Friday evening I saw a poll in a website asking visitors if the Delhi Police bungled up in the encounter. I didn't give much thought to it until the next day when I saw about the encounter in Jamia Nagar in Delhi. The shocks came one after another. An Inspector of Police died. I thought okay, so one casualty from our side, what happened to the terrorists? 2 died, 1 captured and 2 escaped? Escaped?? I read on further. The Inspector's name was Mohan Chand Sharma. A highly decorated office, he was tech savvy and known for tech surveillance. What prompted him to go inside without a bullet proof vest is something which is baffling me. His death is a loss to the country. He approached the apartment alone, without any Kevlar or protective gear. Somehow the terrorists sensed something wrong and they opened fire. NSG were pressed into service. I am waiting for more news to come, and what I will be interested in, is the detailed breakup of the encounter and how long was it before Sharma was extricated from the battle zone. I am interested in knowing that was there any chance of saving the life of the officer. When you lose such a person you don't want to lose him for want of expertise in carrying out an operation.He was the best they had.

A friend of mine tells me that it will not rain after Ganesh Chaturthi. Rain has been the recurrent theme since last few months. Considering that it was rainy season, it's kind of obvious, and only I can think about cracking such meaningless jokes. We think about so many things when go out. Well, I must say, when I say we, I mean people who do not step into their car the moment they step out of their house and the repeatation the other way round. So people who are exposed in varying extents to the vagaries of nature, has so much to worry when they go out in their day to day life. Rainy season add one more item to it. People think, will it rain? do I need to carry an umbrella? People look out into the sky and try to predict the next hour or so, if it will rain.

There is something majestic and a certain sense of inevitability in the way the clouds build up. First it rumbles and then waits for few minutes. Some people don't get the signal, some get it. Anyway, clouds cannot care less who thinks what. Then it starts to drizzle. And then it starts to "rain", in the actual sense of the term. Big drops pounding on the earth making it wet in matter of seconds. When it changes from drizzle to rain, it almost seems to be apologetic, seems to saying, "Sorry, but I have a job to complete". People, who can help it, scramble for cover while clouds pour with a detachment only could be seen in the municipal worker watering the municipal parks. He cannot care less. He has to water the grass, he will water it and move ahead. After whatever time the cloud has been alloted it either stops or moves ahead. People again find their life back to normal, a tad less wet, and come out from their hidings.

A classmate of mine, names better left unsaid, had written "rainy season" as the favourite season. I had wondered at that time, that is it, within boundaries of sanity, possible for rainy season to be someone's favourite? It is far from being my favourite, but I am not sure that it will not come dangerously close to become one after a few more summers. Anyway who cares which is my favourite season. I am here to write inane articles and I will do just that. And look out of my window to the wet street, fresh trees (they like it after the rain, don't they?) and the floating clouds, and love life all over again.

Training is almost over. I sorely missed the last trainer. The new one, although is knowledgeable, has questionable human traits. Anyway, don't want to go into that. I was, as usual, almost bored to death. My friend, I discovered, had the capability to be as mischievous as me. That helped matters. We found out the way to shut down computers remotely. In case you are wondering how to do that it's Start > Run > shutdown -m '\\computer name' -t 'time in seconds' -r and hit enter. So, a command like shutdown -m \\pc18 -t 000 -r will bring the server immediately down without any warning whatsoever. We tried it a couple of times leaving the trainees baffled. Internet access was allowed for a couple of hours for the purpose of practicals. I did my duty of not missing any opportunity to corrupt others, by promptly suggesting my friend to visit uncyclopedia.org. He visited almost immediately and for the next couple of hours we spent laughing our asses off.
Training was boring, but it was fun at times. Thankfully it's over.

A small corrigendum. In my travelogue posted on 26 May 2008, I had said that SPIC Pharma has a school in Tuticorin. Few days ago I have come to know that the school I was referring to is of Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation Ltd. The error is regretted.

While going to Cuddalore, when I spotted SPIC Pharma (and was fairly excited to see) for reasons better left unsaid, I asked Shanu, who was driving the car, in a very casual tone if he had heard about SPIC. Shanu in a similar tone replied that yes he knows about one SPIC Petroleum. I scoffed at him, telling that it can't be and SPIC is definitely into medicines. I knew almost nothing about SPIC but somehow I wanted to think that this SPIC was the same one who has a colony (SPIC Nagar) and a school in Tuticorin. Anyway, facts were put straight by someone whose knowledge in this is indisputable. Hence this post.

I forgot to mention in my travelogue, that the place I mentioned, Bhuvanagiri, is the birthplace of Adi Shankaracharya. I came to know that after returning to Bangalore.

One of my paternal uncles, had run away from home, became an ascetic, and eventually becoming a monk. He became the president of Kaanch Mandir, an ashram on the banks of River Ganga (for some strange reason it's referred to as Hoogly) in Calcutta. I was doing my graduation in Asansol, when with a friend we went there on a short trip, without informing at home. One morning we visited Dakshineshwar Temple on the other side of Ganga and my friend offered pujas. When we returned to ashram we were led to uncle's room. He was very old by that time and his health was failing. He was sitting on the bed and my friend and I sat on the floor. We were offered prasad, which was also breakfast for us. While eating we said that we had been to the Kali Temple. He asked if we had gone to see the place where Ramkrishna lived, and few other places which tourists and devotees can see. I replied in negative. He then in a very calm voice said, "It's foolish to set out seeing a place without knowing the importance of the place or knowing what should be seen."

One would have thought that I learnt my lessons after being reprimanded. But looks like I haven't yet. Had I have any inkling about the historical importance about that place I would have screamed, cried, done anything to make the car stop there. I am not interested in the religious aspect of it. I would have loved to stop there, and look around. Don't ask me why.

Its still raining outside. Sounds of water hitting all kind of surfaces trickling in through closed doors and windows. I don't feel like going to bed. I want to give company to all those water droplets who have no one to see or hear when they fall... Rain falls... Due to the gravitational force of the earth. Their's is a tragic story. The moment they leave the cloud, they are doomed. In seconds they hit the road, roof, metal, leaves, heads... So I just want to stay awake for some more time while they are doing that. I am just trying to be pseudo-romantic (let me know if you find a more appropriate term) while I can afford to do so. Tomorrow when I am tired after a day's boredom, I will just hit the bed and go to sleep. Make hay while the sun shines, they say... So listen to what you like while you can... :-)

Its pouring outside. It quarter past 12 in the night. I know I have to get up early tomorrow, very early infact if I have any intention of completing all the work that I have planned to complete, but here I am tippity tapping on the keyboard and listening to O Re Piya by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. This fellow reminds of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. There are reasons also. Rahat happens to be Nusrat's cousin, and there is a striking similarity in the former's voice. Apparently Rahat trained under Nusrat since his childhood. Good for him. I came to know about Nusrat's existence when Bandit Queen came. The movie, notwithstanding Seema Biswas's naked scene, didn't interest me much. What stuck me were the songs. I never heard anything like that before. Apparently many didn't. I didn't understand anything about music, as I still don't now. Still I knew that the voice and the songs were touching a chord within. I then found out that Nusrat's voice managed to irritate dad. So I liked it even more. I became an instant fan of him. I got his cassettes, got his songs recorded. Then one day I heard that he has passed away. It was a shock. When a celebrity dies I will be the last person to feel bad about it. In this case I did feel bad. It seemed like a loss. You will not find people with such voices everywhere. Rahat is not as good as him, but he is good in his own way.

I never liked rain. In Rajrappa (its the same as saying, "in my childhood") rain was synonymous with gloom. I always had hated the overcast skies, the absence of sunlight in the day... I also had this possible migraine problem wherein such a day will almost always cause an headache, no figure of speech intended. All that changed after I came to Bangalore. I don't know why and how. It was not like I stepped out of the bus, and next day it came as a flash that "Wow, I love rain." No, it was not like that. But it was a pleasant surprise for myself when since quite a few months I have realised that I am actually enjoying the rain, I really love the cloudy, overcast days. May be it has to do something with Bangalore's absolutely beautiful weather. May be had I been in Kerala, and saw it raining for say 4 days incessently, I would still have clinged on to my old beliefs. But Bangalore is a different story. It rains, and it stops. And suddenly there is this nip in the air. I love that. It is not like those single minded persons, who doesn't leave a task untill it's completed. Rather its like me. It cannot do a job at one go. So it rains, and it stops, takes a break, let's some air in, moves along and bit, and rains again...

Bangalore reminds me of Rajrappa and Ranchi. Although Bangalore's altitude is high, it doesn't get as cold as those places, but it's good. Summers in Rajrappa are in extremes, temperatures hovering around 45, and when we saw it touching 50, it was not a good experience. Bangalore is moderate. I will always love Rajrappa, but I have come to like Bangalore. The other day I was returning from Office, and there is this road called outer ring road. We were waiting in the signal, and I saw this huge cloud, dark, in a very scary manner, and on one side it was glittering, full of light. It was a play of light and shadow. It was a beautiful sight. I caught the driver also looking at it. I don't know how long I will stay here, but now that there is something I like about this city, I hope the stay will be even more enjoyable.

On Saturday we came to know that the trainer is going to change. It doesn't matter "that" much, but I must say, the present one was way ahead in his league. I am yet to see someone who inspite of having so much command on the subject can put it across in such a lucid and deceptively simple way.

Anyway, Sunday was the only day this week to take rest. And rest I took. Left the bed at around 3:30 PM. Went to Forum Mall. It has been advised that all crowded public places, especially the malls are to be avoided in the weekends in the wake of the recent serial bomb blasts. But if malls are like source of glitter and light, Bangaloreans are like the moths. They simply can't resist the lure of malls.

Went to Landmark. Thats my favourite place. Well, the most favourite place is Bose. I can listen to their Wave Radio all day long. But I can't go there and spend say an hour listening to it. Its a place which you can go once in a day, especially when you have no intentions of buying anything. So Landmark is the next best option. Live hours after hours (if you please) in absolute anonymity, browsing through some of the best books in print. In the first floor I almost fainted. Someone had bathed in perfume, and to say that the stink was overpowering would be a gross understatement. Attempts to find the source didn't meet with any success. So I somehow walked further and got myself busy again, browsing VCDs.

A friend of mine informed that Seinfield is a good TV series. Or "was" so to say. So I downloaded the first 2 seasons, and was watching them for most part of my waking hours this weekend. Its situational comedy, I read it somewhere, but not sure what it means. But I liked it. Seinfield, the character himself is good. He is actually a stand-up comedian, and is far better than the recent ones. Speaking of TV shows, I really like them. There are websites which let you download season-loads of them. I have seen the exploits of Hercule Poirot that way. Not to mention almost the complete series of Sherlock Holmes. Then there was this British sitcom called Mind Your Language. I almost loved it. Someone introduced me to Thats 70s Show. It kept me amused for hours together. Friends, I didn't download. I got DVDs for the whole set of 10 seasons. It worthy to be collected. And presently Seinfield. These are things which makes you smile and laugh. And thats the reason I like them. Oh, in the Indian side of it, relived the childhood moments watching Byomkesh Bakshi and the Flop Show. On the lighter side of 90s 2 serials used to come on Doordarshan (DD1 didn't exist then). One was The Old Fox and the other one was Derrick. Both were German characters and were hugely popular. I am still trying to locate them, the serials, on the Internet.

The training, for most part, has been boring. Had it not been for the generous portions of breaks we get I am very certain that Saimeet and I would have ended up closing our eyes and snoring loudly. We infact did it a few times, closing the eyes I mean. Few apparent idiosyncracies of our trainer always had us in splits. Of course there were reasons for him to do that but we found it funny. Like every time he logs into a new user account (and you do that a lot of times when you're teaching Windows Server 2003) every single time, before doing "anything" else he will change the start menu to Classic. Again whenever he created any new partition or volume (and again he created quite a lot of them) he would, every single time, religiously remove the words "New Volume" while creating them. Anyway, training is going on, and will go on for another 2 weeks. Hopefully my desktop which has in an un-operable state since last few weeks, may be more than a month, will come up by this weekend, if my friend manages to fix the SMPS, and it works.

In the class everybody except for us are freshers. Of course they are new to the practical IT field, and are unexperienced, still some of the answers that came out of the group greatly amused us. For example the trainer asked, "What is the difference between Windows 2000 and Windows XP". An answer came, "Support for USB drives". In another instance trainer asked, "How many types of hard driver are there"? An answer came, "Internal and External Drives". In yet another instance the trainer asked, "How many types of partitions are there?" We couldn't see who said it but a very serious and earnest voice said, "Magical".

“The sun is but a morning star.” ~ Henry David Thoreau, Walden

“Do not say, 'It is morning,' and dismiss it with a name of yesterday. See it for the first time as a newborn child that has no name.” ~ Rabindranath Tagore


Woke up just before 5. It has been ages since I woke up this early. I opened the door and I could see clouds floating in the sky, gusts of cold breeze nudging the trees into swaying gently. The sun is yet to rise and the magic is still intact.

Weather in Bangalore has been amazing since last 2 days. Had it not been the lingering nausea that has gripped me since yesterday (may be some water somewhere had those indecent microbes which wreaked havoc on my system) I would have enjoyed it more. Still, the overcast sky, the constant breeze, its beautiful. Left early from work because even after taking medicines things didn’t improve. Got some movies from friends which should see me through the weekend.

Mahakaalidhyanam

The runtime of this file is around 1:30 minutes. But I like the way this has been rendered.

mahAkAlIdhyAnam.h

OM khaDgaM chakragadeShuchApaparidhAn.h shUlaM bhushuNDIM shiraH
shaN^khaM sandadhatIM karaistrinayanAM sarvAN^gabhUShAvR^itAm.h .
yAM hantuM madhukaiTabhau jalajabhUstuShTAva supte harau
nIlAshmadyutimAsyapAdadashakAM seve mahAkAlikAm.h ..

The audio file can be downloaded from here……

Few more quotes...

“I do not want a friend who smiles when I smile, who weeps when I weep, for my shadow in the pool can do better than that.” - Confucius

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” - Anaïs Nin

“To find a friend one must close one eye; To keep him, two.” - Norman Douglas

“Love is blind, but friendship closes its eyes.” - Anonymous

“It seems to me that trying to live without friends is like milking a bear to get cream for your
morning coffee. It is a whole lot of trouble, and then not worth much after you get it.” - Zora Neale Hurston

“The heart has its reasons which reason knows not of.” - Blaise Pascal

“You call it madness, but I call it love.” - Don Byas

“Love is like pi - natural, irrational, and very important.” - Lisa Hoffman

“I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love.” - Mother Teresa

“Earth's the right place for love. I don't know where it's likely to go better.” - Robert Frost

Travelogue - Pondicherry - Mahabalipuram Road Trip - May 2008

We started on 23rd night, and reached Bangalore on 26th morning. It was after a long time that I went on a similar trip and first ever with friends. So, it was special in many ways, and I must say, I enjoyed it to the hilt.

We were planning for this trip since last 3 months. Getting people to come with us was not easy. There is this friend named Ashfaq. Gem of a guy. There are not many people I have seen as down to earth and as gritty as him in my life. We wanted him to come but for some reason he was reluctant. It took much of convincing to get him to join us. So, we four, Shanu, Nirmal, Ashfaq and yours truly finally decided to set off.

It was decided that we will go in Shanu's Santro, and that we will leave from office after our shifts. Nirmal's and Shanu's workstations are on right and left side of my workstation respectively. Ashfaq moved out of our team few months ago and his workplace is on the floor above us. Shanu took the day off and Nirmal left early from work.

So at around 10:30 pm Shanu came with his car, Nirmal had already come by then, Ashfaq and I joined them on the ground floor parking area. For dinner we picked up 4 tuna subs from Subway in Indiranagar. Nirmal had brought chicken and prawn preparations from Imperial, Kormangala with him. Further ahead Nirmal and I picked up beer for us, 2 Kingfisher strong for him, and 1 can of Kingfisher Lager Beer for me. Shanu was our main driver. Nirmal the back-up. Drinking for Shanu was out of question. Ashfaq doesn't drink.

Our first stop was a dhaba called "Ghar Dhaba" on Krishnagiri By-pass, attached to a petrol pump. We picked up a box of fried cashew nuts for 125 from the Anand Bhavan outlet inside the Dhaba. Once we started from there, we opened our bottle and can. By the time we were half way through with the drinks Shanu found a nice empty spot to park the car on the roadside and have dinner. We had the kebabs and the prawns and then the subs. Shanu had apparently asked them to put extra mayonnaise in the subs and they were gigantic in size. To say that they were filling would be an understatement.

We stuffed ourselves, washed hands, and chatted while Nirmal and Ashfaq were having their customary smoke. Smoking inside the car was banned and except for one instance, Nirmal and Ashfaq abided by it. From there when we started we stopped near a tea stall in Pondicherry, around 5 in the morning. Shanu, all the way through, did around 100 - 120 kmph, touching 130 once.

Shanu, with the help of his friend had already booked 2 AC rooms for us in a guest house not very far from the beach. Ram Guest House, as it turned out, was an excellent place to stay, and choosing AC rooms over non-AC ones proved to be a wise decision. Pondicherry at this time of the year is hot. I hadn't experienced that kind of temperature in years. AC in Shanu's car is another reason we returned without being baked to Bangalore. But going at such time of the year had its advantages. We got the rooms in that classy guest house for far less a price than what they would have charged in the peak season, around 1200 - 1300 per day.

Once we reached the hotel, Shanu and I just switched on the AC and lied down on the bed. In 20 seconds we were both asleep. We woke up at around 9:30, and got ready for going out. Had breakfast in Surguru Restaurant, not far from Nilgiris and Archies. After breakfast it was decided that we will go to a temple of Shani.

We went to Chidambaram, past Cuddalore and then were told that the temple was another 80 kms from there. We were around 75 kms away from Pondicherry, and according to Nirmal's report it was within 30 - 40 kms. Sense prevailed and we returned.

I came across a small, green village with beautiful houses, called Bhuvanagiri. Just before the village, if you are going from Pondicherry, you would find SPIC Pharmaceuticals' factory. SPIC has a school, if I am not wrong, near Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu.

After returning from there we had lunch in "Salt and Pepper", a moderate affair of prawns, chicken, vegetables, rice and parathas. Just in front of Salt and Pepper is Aurobindo Press' hand made paper item's sales section. Shanu had to pick some items, so we all went in. We picked up a few notebooks, and came out. From there we went to Auroville, and spent around half and hour. By the time we reached, Maatri Mandir was already closed. While returning we went to the Auroville beach, stood there for sometime and started back.

There was plan to have food and drinks in the hotel room. So we went to a restaurant called "Laddle", which is opposite to JIPMER, and ordered food to be packed. We went to a place called Lawspet; saw the Helipad and the Pondicherry Airport which has now been turned into a flight school. Then we went to a wholesale shop and picked up beer and wine. Before returning to the guest house we picked up the food. It was again a moderate affair of mutton, fish, chicken, prawn, and rice.

In the room Nirmal had 2 beers, Shanu 1, and I took a glass of wine. After dinner we decided to call it a day. Next morning it was from Ashfaq that I came to know that within 15 minutes of returning to his room Nirmal vomited for around 10 minutes. It was good to see Nirmal back to his jolly self the next morning.

We decided to check out the following morning as we had plans of going to Mahabalipuram. Shanu looked refreshed after his beer induced sound sleep. Ashfaq as always had an air of briskness about him.

We packed our luggage, and left the guest house at around 10:00 am. Then to Surguru for breakfast. Shanu then took us to one of the piers near the new light house. After returning to the city we picked up water and chocolates and then we set out for Mahabalipuram.

On the way we stopped near the Osteri Lake. A deaf and dumb fisherman plunged into the lake with his life boat, an inflated tyre, for fishing in front of us. After Nirmal and Ashfaq had another round of smoke we set out again. On the way to Mahabalipuram, on the ECR (East Coast Road) we got a flat tyre. It took some time but we managed to change the tyre. It was around 5:00 pm when we reached Mahabalipuram. Saw the Shore Temple first and then the Five Rathas.

There is this hotel called Hotel Mamallaa Heritage. It's a 3 star hotel. We decided to have an early dinner, as we were planning to have a non-stop journey to Bangalore. We took a table at the roof garden. Spent around an hour there. In short, the ambience, food and service was good. Pricing was reasonable. For a 3 Star, it was, in fact less. Music couldn't have been more worse. "Aap Ki Nazron Ne Samjha" (composed by Madan Mohan and sung by Lata Mangeshkar) was being sung by someone in a way which would have killed Madan Mohan and can lead Lata Mangeshkar to commit suicide if she hears it.

We had another flat tyre near Krishnagiri. A brainstorming session ensued, because we didn't have a spare tyre. The spare tyre had already been used in the previous instance. Finally the old tyre was repaired and we started on what was the final leg of our short but memorable trip.

You Are Missing

(Rough English rendition of Piyali’s ‘Hariyechhi Tomaye’.
The original is really readable.)


The album hauls me in this murky night
To live those moments again.
But then, you are not there; only the
Long cherished memories and good olden days.

Remember the wet evening
When I saw you about the turn…
First glimpse, first meeting, first liking
And? And my first love

But that was a different earth
My world was pink with joy, and
The sky was blue with dreams.
Now, I find none of these
Nor, do our steps redeem.

You never thought of me before leaving,
You left and were gone, and
Gone with you my first feelings.
All I had was my first love,
And the bitter taste of first failure,
Which you cruelly gave me.

I lost you in this mortal jungle
Neither I am within me.


Afterword:

In case you are wondering who is this Piyali, we were taking tutions from the same teacher while we were doing graduation in English. She once gave this poem written by her in Bengali to me and asked to translate it to english. I don't know if I have done justice to the original work, but then she didn't hate me after that, so I assumed it was not all that bad. Last known reports indicate that she has got married and settled in Orissa. I hope she has got the man of her dreams and is happy.

Dawn to Dusk

To see you in my life again
Was beyond my utter imagination,
But then, you came at my door,
And gave me a chance of confession.

I saw your smile; same and simple
As I asked you to come in.
I was going mad with joy,
And we started talking.

We talked and talked and talked
And evening came rolling.
Time flew as the birds fly,
And the sun sets in.

Those old days flashed before me
As I offered you coffee.
You got up and were gone,
And I thought you to be coming.

The foggy morning confuted me
And made everything clear,
For it was my dream again;
‘Life giving but rare’.



Afterthought:
I wrote it three times and lost it. But I sought it from my heart’s shelf, everytime, because man forgets nothing like his own dreams. After all, you don’t see these dreams daily, when you can see them, talk to them, feel their presence.

Death and Eternity

I saw the Eternity the other night,
Sitting by the brook,
With one arm over his shoulders,
Looking Death in his eyes.

She was there for the whole night,
Humming songs of life.
And Death by her side,
Sat thralled,
With tears brimming in his eyes.

Her voice was like soft steps,
Or like the butterflies flying.

But suddenly I was awake again,
For, with night, her voice was dying.

Death, his head on her knees,
Was still looking at her eyes.
And tears, like that deathless brook,
Flowed quietly, shining in the moonlight.

Eternity took his hand in hers,
And said in a voice unearthly –

“Don’t weep my only love,
For the night will come again,
And again
Together we will be.”