Chennai te Bristi

  Aaj sakal theke bristi hoye chalechhe abiraam. Kaalo megh gulo je kotha theke ure esechhe, ekdam bujhtei paarini. Gatokaal sandhye belateo to aakash ta pharsa chhilo. Tahole?

  Anya din sakal belay surjyer aalote ghum bhenge jaay. Khola jaanala diye rod ese chokhe pare. Aajke ghum bhenge giyechhilo anek aage. Aasale, gato kaal raate ghumote paarini bhalo kore. (Ghum pori o ki aamake bhule gelo?) ... Jai hok, aaj ektu sakal sakal ghum bhenge jaay. Aar baire taakiye dekhi aakashta andhakar hoye aachhe!

  Aami shuye porlam aabar. Aasha korechhilam ek ghanta pare aabar jakhan ghum theke uthbo, takhan aabar chara rod dekhte paabo. Kintu naa, ek ghanta ki? Sakal gariye sandhye hote challo, ekhano aakash sei kaalo.

  Bhaba jaay? Chennai te eirakam bristi hochchhe!

  Jaler dhara dekhte dekhte aamar ei udasi mon aabar kothao haariye gelo. Aajke aar office e jaabo naa - etai bhabchhilam. Ebang ei chinta ta maathay aasar par ektu adbhut laagchhilo. Karan prabol barsan hawa sattweo aami konodin school kaamai kori ni!

  Sei chhotobelar smriti gulo bhese aaschhilo chokher saamne. Takhan aamra quarter e thaktam. Chhutir dine do talar balcony te daariye, nijeke baachiye, bristi dekhtam. Purano khata'r paata chhire nouka baaniye upar theke phele ditam. Jale bhasbe seta. Bhese kothay jaabe? Konodin bhhabini. Kintu tate ki ese jeto? Dupur belay Maa khichuri ranna korto. Sange beguni, o omlette. Aar saathe makhan. ... Aajke hathat kore sei khichuri khete baro ichchhe korchhilo.

  Dupur belate jakhan school theke phirtam bus e kore, Maa ba Baba bus stand e daariye thakto chhata niye. Chhata maathay diye, raastar jal eriye dheere dheere baari phirtam. Aamar sakale snan kore jaawar abhyes chhilo. Tai phire ese haat-mukh dhuye khete bose jetam. Kheye-deye, ektu bristi dekhe, ektu jharer aawaj shune ghumiye portam. Bikel belay ghum bhaangar pare jakhan dekhtam current nei, takhan besh raag hoto. Tabe raate lampa aar mombati jwalale maja o hoto. Parer din Kono pariksha naa thakle sediner matan parasuno'r chhuti. Aar andhakar ghare bose bidyut er jhalak dekha.

  Aajke hathat kore ei sab purano katha mone pore gelo keno? Er aageo aami praay i bristi dekhechhi. Tar madhye office eo giyechhi. Tahole? ... Kichhu din aage aami nijeke haariye phelechhi, aarekbar. Jedikei taakachchhi, sab i phaaka laagchhe. Jaader ke dekhte petam saadharanata, tara jeno keman doore chale gechhe. (Athaba kuyashaay dhaka pore giyechhe ki?) Nijeke keman ektu eka laagchhe ...

Ten years from today

    A thought came into my mind yesterday while looking at a series of pictures. I could view a translucent image of life - my life and that of others, some time in the future. Say, some ten years down the line.

    Well, my life would largely remain the same. Actually I was thinking more about my friends. Ten years from today ... everyone will be well established, settled, responsible citizens of this (or some other) country. With their wife, with their kids, with their family. Days would be different then. From the life of a bachelor without any bindings, it would become a life tightly coupled with responsibilities. Earlier they would have spent every evening with their friends, but then they might require to find and set aside some time for that. I wonder whether then they would get enough time to reply to those long mail chains. Or, would there be any more mail chain then? The definition of life would change, mostly.

    I'm not telling I'm getting angry or feeling jealous about that. It's just another random thought that was originated in my mind and sent for processing. In fact, lucky are those, who would get settled down sooner. They would have someone beside them for the rest of their life. A journey, perhaps, becomes easier if you have a partner. And when I'm thinking this, I'm really feeling happy about them, all of them.

    So, ten years down the line, what I would be doing? I'll be then staying in a small flat in some corner of this world, alone. Again a small 1 BHK flat, that I used to stay once upon a time not so long ago. I'll get out for work in the morning. (I don't know what kinda work I'd be doing then). Come back in the evening. Cook something to eat. In the meantime, open my laptop, and start playing either selected ghazals of Jagjit Singh or some Rabindrasangeet. Get online, not sure if I'd find anyone else online then. Check for the count of scraps in Orkut, revise some old mails from old days. Finally, go to sleep. The day would end there. And like a job scheduled in crontab, this same sequence of steps would keep on running everyday.

    It would be then two decades that I had been been waiting for someone. I think even then also I wouldn't get the chance to meet with that someone.