Tuesday 30 October 2012

A Birth,a Storm, a Stormy Life.


These two beautiful pieces of prose were composed by my two friends who at present are honing their creative talents while home bound during the threat of Sandy. I found an odd connection in the following three posts:



On my Son’s Birthday

 It has been a sweet and wonderful journey with you starting from the day I held you in my arms for the first time. You were born on a bright Thursday morning right after a snow storm the day before. The lovely black curly hair on your cherubic small frame of 5lb and 4ozs and your twinkling eyes brought a sense of gratification of having par taken in your creation that word cannot describe enough. Looking at you, my dreams of future were renewed with a fresh zeal. Everything or anything is possible - that is how I felt with you in my arms.
Oh, the path traversed has been a remarkable one - learning new things from you every day, ever since with renewed vigor. You brought back my cherished childhood again - through you I have re-lived another childhood of innocence, wild bewilderment, and an unabashed curiosity to know everything. Your questioning mind and analytical inquisition has shown me the beauty in asking questions anew.

My discovery of "Winnie the Pooh" through sharing bed-time stories with you brought me the simple pleasures of reading beautiful literature. I have since cherished the books by A. A. Milne and hope to keep them to eternity. The discovery of poetry by Dr. Suess where we shared many a laughter while deciphering the inner meaning behind those poems. Your philosophizing during your potty breaks, at times quite irritating, and yet another lovely encounter with your developing and a very curious mind. So many times I had wished that I had paid more attention while learning to answer the myriad of questions that you often posed and not provided you with a dumb answer instead.

As you approach your 16th birthday, I realize that soon you would be entering the world of the "grown-ups", figuring out your destiny amidst various challenges and making your own mistakes. I wish that you find your true-calling and that make your decisions with much after-thought and analysis as you have done in the past.  I wish that you expect the best in you and not expect anything from others. I wish you never find excuses to not do something which you started with strong convictions, to weaken the cause. I wish you always have pride in your abilities and never doubt your conviction. I wish you develop strong individuality and remain true to yourself. I wish you never look for gratification for your actions from others. I finally wish that you find true joy in everything you chose to do and never compromise or put others before your own conviction.
By Bipasa  Biswas.

A Storm Unlike:
Sandy has actually been a real positive thing for me. I am in a place in my life where I want to celebrate - to dance with - what is unwanted, uninvited, marginalized, feared. And if not anything, Sandy has been so much about fear-mongering - "make sure you have drinking water and candles and batteries," "Make sure you stay away from windows"... this is not to say that there is no real suffering - yes, people have died, people have been stranded... But everything said and done, this is the reality for many people in this world day after day after day. I think of the flood plains of Bangladesh, where tens of thousands die every year in floods. I think of the families who sleep under bridges in New Delhi - 365 days a year. I think of the many more who have already lost their lives to Sandy in the Caribbean. What gives us (the Americans) the right to expect that the Universe is somehow obliged to uphold our health, wealth and youth at all costs? I am thankful to Sandy for reminding us about where our lives and preferences stand, vis-a-vis the vast theatre of life!!
Amazing fury and yes, beauty of Mother Nature as she rages outside. I couldn't resist going out for a brief stroll about an hour ago. On Roosevelt Island, the river is level with the boardwalk, and water is flowing right in! No separation between land and water. Winds gusting so hard that it is hard even for me to stand in one spot. Lots of trees broken, uprooted. But also amazingly beautiful -fierce - like Kali or Rudra or Oya... Certainly once in a lifetime experience and I am so glad I went out...
By Sushmita Mukherjee.
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A birth...Inset of a storm
Somehow, the onset of Sandy, a birthday letter written in a distant land and another infamous birth with a famous comet like life span 125 years ago on this same date, seemed  as an incidental planning by destiny.
He was indeed a stormy appearance on the pages of Bangla Literature. He still lives and will always occupy a place in our heart as he was the one who taught us the logic of illogical imagination, and taught us how to think, how to ride the dreams to listen to the thundering creation:


Sukumar Ray...a legend we still  live by.

7 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Beautifully connected, Mohua. So proud of you for starting this blog. I plan to read all the previous entries...

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  3. Thanks Sushmita,for your contribution.Do write more.

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  4. Very well percieved and equally well concieved

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  5. Wonderful Mohuadi!!Another feather in your cap!!Will look forward to more...payel

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