Holi in the times of war

Somewhere the missile inflames the city.

Somewhere the flame-of-the-forest's beauty.

Somewhere, the air smells of gulaal.

Somewhere, the gunpowder stinks the wall.

Somewhere children carrying colours cry in zest.

Somewhere they cry to put their pain to rest. 

Somewhere water guns spray red coloured water.

Somewhere a gun is shot and everywhere red blood spatter.

Somewhere children happily colour each other red.

Somewhere they cry seeing their parents dropping dead.

Somewhere they hide behind doors to save themselves from colour.

Sometimes in dread they try to hide their sickly pallor.

And we proudly call this one world? Are we really one?

Then how can so many children suffer while others are having fun?

Netaji

"I lost you forever even before my birth

but I found you within me,

in the core of my existence,

setting my soul free.

I have never seen you with my eyes

but I have seen you through my soul;

A springing tiger, a braveheart on whom

even death could not take its toll!

The world bows to you, O invincible Prince!

Even now, while you're resting in your mother's womb!

My lament echoes in the cemetery of my losses

The resonance is the hardest in your tomb.

Can't you see the apathy of thousands?

We needed you for our redemption and we always will.

Your shadow looms large. My heart knows you exist. 

This void in our lives, someday, your reincarnation will fill."

Ray's Centennial Birthday!

আমি তোমায় দেখিনি রবিনসন এর ইনার আই দিয়ে 

দেখেছি ছোট থেকে তোমায় আমার হৃদয়ের ভাবে

আমি কখনও চাইনি তোমার মত বিশিষ্ট হতে

হতে চেয়েছি তোমার মত শুধু স্বভাবে

কে বলে তুমি কেবলই চলচ্চিত্রের কিংবদন্তী?

তুমি আমাদের সাত রাজার ধন এক মানিক 

কুরোসাওয়ার ভাষায় তোমার ছবি না দেখা 

মানে চন্দ্র সূর্য ছাড়া শুধু বাঁচা খানিক

আমার কাছে তুমি ফেলুদার স্রষ্টা,

শুধু নও হারিয়ে যাওয়া এলিয়েন অ্যাং এর বন্ধু বঙ্কু

সন্দেশ মানে মিষ্টি নয় - তোমার লেখার মজা 

তুমি আমার কাছে পথের পাঁচালির স্কেচবুক আর শঙ্কু

যেই বৈশাখী সকালে পৃথিবী আলো করে এলে তুমি 

কেউ কি এও ভেবেছিল সেদিন

তোমার জন্য বাঙালি হওয়ার গর্ব করবে কত

তোমার শতবর্ষ পূর্ণ হবে যেদিন?

Helicopter to Moon

"When my 2 year old son lisped with a cherubic grin saying I'll fly to the moon in a helicopter, when asked what does he want to do when he grows up, I brushed away the idea thinking it's just another wild imagination of this dreamy boy that he has thought aloud. Little did I know that within a year's time NASA would be preparing its Ingenuity Mars Helicopter for its first powered, controlled, flight on another planet, if not to the moon.

It is indeed incredible to know that the perseverence rover that has Ingenuity attached to its belly, now protected in a case to prepare it for a safe landing, is currently in the airfield where Ingenuity is carefully being deployed to fly on its own like a fledgling. However, we would have to hold our breath for atleast a week and a half more for that to be a reality. 

It's still a utopian fantasy considering the subdued solar energy that the surface receives and the fahrenheital drop that the Martian surface withstands as it can result in dysfunctional components due to a freeze or a crack. However, if successful, it would be that technological marvel that would expand our horizons and empower us for powered flights into another world!

This idea germinated 6 years ago and is almost on the verge of culmination. 

Though the 30-Martian day experiment is unlikely to begin before April 11th, I am counting every second like a thirsty traveler who craves water in an arid desert. Good Luck Ingenuity. Fly high!"

P.S. This piece has been written by me purely due to my interest in the subject, collating together various bits of news from NASA. Thoughts and views are completely personal and bear no resemblance or correlation to any other entity. 

My 2020 in brief

Wrinkled by the precarious times, as I lay burdened by my inhibitions, I heard a sudden knock. It was my soul seeking to break free. My life was at an inflection point - a career break to deal with that ran too long, a sick child and the pandemic snatching away loved ones. Yet I wanted to do something worthwhile and not just while away my life. I thought to myself, did I even have the right to waste the most precious gift from my parents. That was the epiphany that altered my life forever. Fifteen years after I had passed out of campus, I appeared for and cracked one of the toughest exams in India and started my journey of a doctoral degree with the dream of altering the world. Now I’m enjoying the nuances of balancing rigour and relevance of a research oriented curriculum. If not studying,  I’m usually spending quality time revelling in my kids' and parents’ company while enjoying the wintery afternoon sun amidst jaggery, oranges and sesame seed sweets. My evenings are laced with coffee, fruit cakes and books. Amidst the fluidic pace with which life is happening, I’m living it, in reality and weaving magical memories out of it.

My Silhouette

"When I remain just as a silhouette of the past,
Shed no tears, do not grieve;
If you look for me intently,
I'll still be there, if only you believe.

Look for me in the fluttering pages
of the book of poems i wrote,
Trace your fingers through those lines
My thought, those lines emote...

Look for me in the fragrant pages
of the books that adorn my shelf,
You'll know what my life was like;
Those stories made me myself.

Look intently at the half-filled inkpot
That penned my plaudits and strictures 
The deep blue of the bottled up emotion...
My ink stained finger it pictures!

See the shades that once coloured my canvas
You'll find my moods in the variation of the hue
Those strokes of pencil, the stained palette
Will speak of the same me you once knew

Run your finger through the strings
of the instrument that I once played
The chords are entwined with the song
of my entangled thoughts that strayed

The warm summers foreshadowing autumns
The frozen winters and the lashing rain
All of them would tell you my story
of how I braved every storm and smiled in pain

The mountains will echo my feelings to you
The bark of trees would show you my carved heart
You'll find my remnants in the crashing waves
The stars will remind you, we've never been apart."

New Year's Eve

"Chilly winter night fades into oblivion

Every merry making - an unwanted alluvion

True feelings take a sudden dip

A wry smile hangs on every lip

People hardly notice, nobody cares!

Except for the scarred soul that the heart bares.

Clinking glasses, a few handshakes,

Tapping stilettos - conversation the heart makes

With no one to watch over, time ticks by,

And thus they bid the year goodbye

Stumbling, fumbling they make for home

Some stay back on the streets they roam.

Early next morning they wake up in bed

To see the sun paint the sky a warm glowing red

The brand new year, with care they weave

To be enjoyed until another new year's eve..."