#california bengali people

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 4.15

Holidays

Anime Day

Anniversary of Tarija (Bolivia)

AR-15 Day

Ariadne Asteroid Day

ASL Day (American Sign Language Day)

Banyan Tree Day (Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii)

Bija Mangala (Field Cultivation Festival)

Buck Rogers Day

Children’s Day (Spain)

Criminal Investigation Department Employees Day (Ukraine)

Da Vinci Day

Day of Love (Georgia)

Day of People (Aysellant)

Day of Radio-Electronic Fight Troops (Russia)

Day of the Sun (North Korea)

Father Damien Day (Hawaii)

Fluff Appreciation Day

415 Day

Freak Out Day

Gallaudet Day

Good Roads Day (Illinois)

Great Stichwort

Hardware Freedom Day

Hillsborough Disaster Memorial Day (Liverpool, UK)

Himachal Day (India)

Historical City Day (Malacca)

Hug Your Boiler Day

Income Tax Pay Day

International Biomedical Laboratory Science Day

International Pompe Day

Ivory Soap Day

Jackie Robinson Day

Kim Il Sung Day (North Korea)

Lilac Day (French Republic)

Lover’s Day (Kazakhstan)

Mariah Carey Day (California)

Melaka UNESCO Heritage Day (Malaysia)

Microvolunteering Day

National Anime Day

National ASL Day

National Collegiate Recovery Day

National Griper’s Day

National Hookup Day

National Keaton Day

National Laundry Day

National Poet Day (Peru)

National Rubber Eraser Day

National Security Education Day (Hong Kong)

National That Sucks Day

National Titanic Remembrance Day

One Boston Day

Purple Up Day

Quantum Teleportation Day

Rubber Eraser Day

Swallow Day (UK)

Take a Wild Guess Day

Tax Day (US)

Tax Resistor's Day

That Sucks Day

Tipsa Diena (Traditional start of plowing; Ancient Latvia)

Titanic Remembrance Day

Type 1 Diabetes Day

Universal Day of Culture

World Art Day

World Tiny Art Gallery Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Fast Food Day

McDonald’s Day

National Glazed Spiral Ham Day

National Takeout Day (Canada)

3rd Monday in April

Boston Marathon Day [3rd Monday]

National Stress Awareness Day [3rd Monday]

Landing of the 33 Patriots Day observed (Uruguay) [3rd Monday]

Patriots' Day (Maine, Massachusetts, Wisconsin) [3rd Monday]

Sechseläuten ends (Six Ringing Festival; Zurich, Switzerland) [3rd Monday]

Weekly Holidays beginning April 15 (3rd Week)

National Work Zone Safety Awareness Week [thru 4.19]

Undergraduate Research Week [thru 4.19]

Week of the Young Child [thru 4.19]

Independence & Related Days

Independence Day Holiday (Israel)

Unitedlands (Declared; 2022) [unrecognized]

Vishwamitra (f.k.a. Children’s Group; Declared; 2007) [unrecognized]

New Year’s Days

Day after Sidereal New Year (South and Southeast Asian) (a.k.a. …

Bengali New Year (India)

Bohag Bihu (Parts of India)

Himachl Day (Parts of India)

Lao New Yar (Laos)

Masadi (Parts of India)

Nababarsha (Parts of India)

New Year Holidays (Myanmar)

Sarhul (Parts of India)

Songkran (Thailand)

Water-Sprinkling Festival continues (Yunnan, China)

Poila Boishakh (Bengali New Year)

Festivals Beginning April 15, 2024

Boston Marathon (Boston, Massachusetts) [3rd Monday]

Coquina Beach Seafood & Music Festival (Coquina Beach, Florida) [thru 4.17]

Singing in the Sun (Myrtle Beach, South Carolina) [thru 4.20]

TED Conference (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) [thru 4.19]

Feast Days

Abbo II of Metz (Christian; Saint)

Arshile Gorky (Artology)

Bananas with Everything Day (a.k.a. Banana Day; Pastafarian)

Basilissa and Anastasia (Christian; Martyrs)

Day of Tellus Mater (Pagan)

Elizabeth Catlett Mora (Artology)

Father Damien (The Episcopal Church)

Festival of Hero/Bast (Ancient Egypt)

Festival of Matsu/Mazu (Goddess of the Sea; Taoism)

Fordicidia (Old Roman Festival of Fertility to honor Ceres)

Henry James (Writerism)

Hippachus (Positivist; Saint)

Hunna (Christian; Saint)

Jeffrey Archer (Writerism)

Kanamara Matsuri (Iron Phallus Festival; Japan)

Leonardo da Vinci (Artology)

Munde (Christian; Saint)

Padarn (Christian; Saint)

Pammy (Muppetism)

Paternus of Avranches (Christian; Saint)

Peter Gonzales (Christian; Saint)

Ruadan of Lothra (Christian; Saint)

Rusalja (Celebration of River Spirts Rusalki of the Lemko People of Carpathia; Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Tellus Mater (Old Roman Mother Earth Festival)

Vlad Tepes Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [14 of 53]

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Uncyclopedia Bad to Be Born Today (because the Titanic Sank and it’s also Tax Day.)

Premieres

The Adventures off Marco Polo (Film; 1938)

Aftermath, by The Rolling Stones (Album; 1966)

The Art of Real Happiness, by Norman Vincent Peale (Book; 1950)

The Black Island, by Hergé (Graphic Novel; 1938) [Tintin #7]

Catalogue d’Oiseaux, by Olivier Messiaen (Pieno Pieces; 1959)

Colors (Film; 1988)

Dark Command (Film; 1940)

Donald’s Nephews (Disney Cartoon; 1938)

Don’t Speak, by No Doubt (Song; 1996)

84, Charing Cross Road, by Helene Hanff (Novel; 1970)

El Amor Bruno (Love, the Magician), by Manuel de Falla (Ballet; 1915)

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (Film; 2022)

Fargo (TV Series; 2014)

The Fitzgeralds and The Kennedys, by Doris Kearns Goodwin (Book; 1987)

Flashdance (Film; 1983)

Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes (Short Story; 1959)

Genghis Khan (Film; 1965)

Girls (TV Series; 2012)

The Hypo-Chondri-Cat (WB MM Cartoon; 1950)

The Little Goldfish (MGM Cartoon; 1939)

Little Red School Mouse (Noveltoons; 1949)

In Living Color (TV Series; 1990)

The Last Emperor (Film; 1988)

The Lumberjack (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit; 1929)

The Moon and Sixpence, by W. Somerset Maugham (Novel; 1919)

Mouse Come Home (Andy Panda Cartoon; 1946)

Outer Banks (TV Series; 2020)

Outer Range (TV Series; 2022)

Rattus Norvegicus, by The Stranglers (Album; 1977)

Ride ‘Em Plowboy (Oswald the Luck Rabbit Disney Cartoon; 1928)

Rio (Animated Film; 2011)

Robinson Crusoe’s Broadcast (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1938)

Rock & Rule (Animated Film; 1983)

Rock for Light, by The Bad Brains (Album; 1983)

Stage Fright (Film; 1950)

St. Matthew’s Passion, by Johann Sebastian Bach (Oratorio; 1729)

Think, recorded by Aretha Franklin (Song; 1968)

To the Finland Station, by Edmund Wilson (Novel; 1940)

The Twenty-One Balloons, by William Pène du Bois (Novel; 1947)

Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On, by Jerry Lee Lewis (Song; 1957)

Wild, by Cheryl Strayed (Memoir; 2012)

Today’s Name Days

Anastasia, Damian, Una (Austria)

Rastislav, Teodor (Croatia)

Anastázie (Czech Republic)

Olympia (Denmark)

Uljas, Uljo, Verner, Verni (Estonia)

Linda, Tuomi (Finland)

César, Paterne (France)

Anastasia, Damian, Una (Germany)

Leonidas (Greece)

Anasztázia, Tas (Hungary)

Anastasio, Annibale (Italy)

Aelita, Agita, Balvis, Gastons (Latvia)

Anastazijus, Liudvina, Modestas, Vaidotė, Vilnius (Lithuania)

Oda, Odd, Odin (Norway)

Anastazja, Bazyli, Leonid, Ludwina, Modest, Olimpia, Tytus, Wacław, Wacława, Wiktoryn, Wszegniew (Poland)

Aristarh, Pud, Trofim (Romania)

Fedor (Slovakia)

Telmo (Spain)

Oliver, Olivia (Sweden)

Mstyslav, Mstyslava (Ukraine)

Kenya, Octavia, Tavia, Tucker (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 106 of 2024; 260 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 16 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Saille (Willow) [Day 2 of 28]

Chinese: Month 3 (Wu-Chen), Day 7 (Ji-You)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 7 Nisan 5784

Islamic: 66 Shawwal 1445

J Cal: 16 Cyan; Twosday [16 of 30]

Julian: 2 April 2024

Moon: 50%: 1st Quarter

Positivist: 22 Archimedes (4th Month) [Varro]

Runic Half Month: Man (Human Being) [Day 6 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 28 of 92)

Week: 3rd Week of April

Zodiac: Aries (Day 26 of 31)

[tragicvampyr]

DID HE BREAK YOU? — AAKASH GHATAK

126 in vampire years. turned at 34 yrs old. 6’0”. vampire. professional knife-thrower. enamored with marisol (@.gardeniadoll)

born in approx 1897, his official place of birth was unknown until the 1970s when it was officially recognized as bangladesh. he lived in several countries from england to france, picking up languages which is why he speaks english, french, latin, and bengali. aakash would eventually be turned in the 1930s and come to be accepted into a freak show where he traveled through france, and eventually to america. this is when he came to live in dewthorn, california for the rest of his years once they outlawed freak shows for being inhumane.

being a vampire, he has been aged by the world and thus comes off as cold to a lot of people that attempt interactions with him. he likes to observe people in silence, causing him to be known as quiet and observant. due to his fear of vulnerability, people find him hard to truly know besides his partner whom managed to break through his boundaries but mere strangers may find a problem with doing. he is rather even-tempered unless someone tries to make him feel weak or simply won’t leave him alone.

miscellaneous information:

unlike stereotypical vampires, he does not have a true weakness to the sun besides having sensitive eyes and having to wear sunglasses when he goes out.

since he’s a vampire, he has superhuman abilities such as superhuman strength/speed, immortality, mind reading, limited mind control, and ability to light fires.

he has his weaknesses as well, but mainly decapitation, being set on fire, drinking the blood of corpses or having his heart destroyed.

doesn’t eat human food because it tastes similar to soap or cleaning chemicals.

[brookston]

Holidays 4.15

Holidays

Anime Day

Anniversary of Tarija (Bolivia)

AR-15 Day

Ariadne Asteroid Day

ASL Day (American Sign Language Day)

Banyan Tree Day (Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii)

Bija Mangala (Field Cultivation Festival)

Buck Rogers Day

Children’s Day (Spain)

Criminal Investigation Department Employees Day (Ukraine)

Da Vinci Day

Day of Love (Georgia)

Day of People (Aysellant)

Day of Radio-Electronic Fight Troops (Russia)

Day of the Sun (North Korea)

Father Damien Day (Hawaii)

Fluff Appreciation Day

415 Day

Freak Out Day

Gallaudet Day

Good Roads Day (Illinois)

Great Stichwort

Hardware Freedom Day

Hillsborough Disaster Memorial Day (Liverpool, UK)

Himachal Day (India)

Historical City Day (Malacca)

Hug Your Boiler Day

Income Tax Pay Day

International Biomedical Laboratory Science Day

International Pompe Day

Ivory Soap Day

Jackie Robinson Day

Kim Il Sung Day (North Korea)

Lilac Day (French Republic)

Lover’s Day (Kazakhstan)

Mariah Carey Day (California)

Melaka UNESCO Heritage Day (Malaysia)

Microvolunteering Day

National Anime Day

National ASL Day

National Collegiate Recovery Day

National Griper’s Day

National Hookup Day

National Keaton Day

National Laundry Day

National Poet Day (Peru)

National Rubber Eraser Day

National Security Education Day (Hong Kong)

National That Sucks Day

National Titanic Remembrance Day

One Boston Day

Purple Up Day

Quantum Teleportation Day

Rubber Eraser Day

Swallow Day (UK)

Take a Wild Guess Day

Tax Day (US)

Tax Resistor's Day

That Sucks Day

Tipsa Diena (Traditional start of plowing; Ancient Latvia)

Titanic Remembrance Day

Type 1 Diabetes Day

Universal Day of Culture

World Art Day

World Tiny Art Gallery Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Fast Food Day

McDonald’s Day

National Glazed Spiral Ham Day

National Takeout Day (Canada)

3rd Monday in April

Boston Marathon Day [3rd Monday]

National Stress Awareness Day [3rd Monday]

Landing of the 33 Patriots Day observed (Uruguay) [3rd Monday]

Patriots' Day (Maine, Massachusetts, Wisconsin) [3rd Monday]

Sechseläuten ends (Six Ringing Festival; Zurich, Switzerland) [3rd Monday]

Weekly Holidays beginning April 15 (3rd Week)

National Work Zone Safety Awareness Week [thru 4.19]

Undergraduate Research Week [thru 4.19]

Week of the Young Child [thru 4.19]

Independence & Related Days

Independence Day Holiday (Israel)

Unitedlands (Declared; 2022) [unrecognized]

Vishwamitra (f.k.a. Children’s Group; Declared; 2007) [unrecognized]

New Year’s Days

Day after Sidereal New Year (South and Southeast Asian) (a.k.a. …

Bengali New Year (India)

Bohag Bihu (Parts of India)

Himachl Day (Parts of India)

Lao New Yar (Laos)

Masadi (Parts of India)

Nababarsha (Parts of India)

New Year Holidays (Myanmar)

Sarhul (Parts of India)

Songkran (Thailand)

Water-Sprinkling Festival continues (Yunnan, China)

Poila Boishakh (Bengali New Year)

Festivals Beginning April 15, 2024

Boston Marathon (Boston, Massachusetts) [3rd Monday]

Coquina Beach Seafood & Music Festival (Coquina Beach, Florida) [thru 4.17]

Singing in the Sun (Myrtle Beach, South Carolina) [thru 4.20]

TED Conference (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) [thru 4.19]

Feast Days

Abbo II of Metz (Christian; Saint)

Arshile Gorky (Artology)

Bananas with Everything Day (a.k.a. Banana Day; Pastafarian)

Basilissa and Anastasia (Christian; Martyrs)

Day of Tellus Mater (Pagan)

Elizabeth Catlett Mora (Artology)

Father Damien (The Episcopal Church)

Festival of Hero/Bast (Ancient Egypt)

Festival of Matsu/Mazu (Goddess of the Sea; Taoism)

Fordicidia (Old Roman Festival of Fertility to honor Ceres)

Henry James (Writerism)

Hippachus (Positivist; Saint)

Hunna (Christian; Saint)

Jeffrey Archer (Writerism)

Kanamara Matsuri (Iron Phallus Festival; Japan)

Leonardo da Vinci (Artology)

Munde (Christian; Saint)

Padarn (Christian; Saint)

Pammy (Muppetism)

Paternus of Avranches (Christian; Saint)

Peter Gonzales (Christian; Saint)

Ruadan of Lothra (Christian; Saint)

Rusalja (Celebration of River Spirts Rusalki of the Lemko People of Carpathia; Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Tellus Mater (Old Roman Mother Earth Festival)

Vlad Tepes Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [14 of 53]

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Uncyclopedia Bad to Be Born Today (because the Titanic Sank and it’s also Tax Day.)

Premieres

The Adventures off Marco Polo (Film; 1938)

Aftermath, by The Rolling Stones (Album; 1966)

The Art of Real Happiness, by Norman Vincent Peale (Book; 1950)

The Black Island, by Hergé (Graphic Novel; 1938) [Tintin #7]

Catalogue d’Oiseaux, by Olivier Messiaen (Pieno Pieces; 1959)

Colors (Film; 1988)

Dark Command (Film; 1940)

Donald’s Nephews (Disney Cartoon; 1938)

Don’t Speak, by No Doubt (Song; 1996)

84, Charing Cross Road, by Helene Hanff (Novel; 1970)

El Amor Bruno (Love, the Magician), by Manuel de Falla (Ballet; 1915)

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (Film; 2022)

Fargo (TV Series; 2014)

The Fitzgeralds and The Kennedys, by Doris Kearns Goodwin (Book; 1987)

Flashdance (Film; 1983)

Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes (Short Story; 1959)

Genghis Khan (Film; 1965)

Girls (TV Series; 2012)

The Hypo-Chondri-Cat (WB MM Cartoon; 1950)

The Little Goldfish (MGM Cartoon; 1939)

Little Red School Mouse (Noveltoons; 1949)

In Living Color (TV Series; 1990)

The Last Emperor (Film; 1988)

The Lumberjack (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit; 1929)

The Moon and Sixpence, by W. Somerset Maugham (Novel; 1919)

Mouse Come Home (Andy Panda Cartoon; 1946)

Outer Banks (TV Series; 2020)

Outer Range (TV Series; 2022)

Rattus Norvegicus, by The Stranglers (Album; 1977)

Ride ‘Em Plowboy (Oswald the Luck Rabbit Disney Cartoon; 1928)

Rio (Animated Film; 2011)

Robinson Crusoe’s Broadcast (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1938)

Rock & Rule (Animated Film; 1983)

Rock for Light, by The Bad Brains (Album; 1983)

Stage Fright (Film; 1950)

St. Matthew’s Passion, by Johann Sebastian Bach (Oratorio; 1729)

Think, recorded by Aretha Franklin (Song; 1968)

To the Finland Station, by Edmund Wilson (Novel; 1940)

The Twenty-One Balloons, by William Pène du Bois (Novel; 1947)

Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On, by Jerry Lee Lewis (Song; 1957)

Wild, by Cheryl Strayed (Memoir; 2012)

Today’s Name Days

Anastasia, Damian, Una (Austria)

Rastislav, Teodor (Croatia)

Anastázie (Czech Republic)

Olympia (Denmark)

Uljas, Uljo, Verner, Verni (Estonia)

Linda, Tuomi (Finland)

César, Paterne (France)

Anastasia, Damian, Una (Germany)

Leonidas (Greece)

Anasztázia, Tas (Hungary)

Anastasio, Annibale (Italy)

Aelita, Agita, Balvis, Gastons (Latvia)

Anastazijus, Liudvina, Modestas, Vaidotė, Vilnius (Lithuania)

Oda, Odd, Odin (Norway)

Anastazja, Bazyli, Leonid, Ludwina, Modest, Olimpia, Tytus, Wacław, Wacława, Wiktoryn, Wszegniew (Poland)

Aristarh, Pud, Trofim (Romania)

Fedor (Slovakia)

Telmo (Spain)

Oliver, Olivia (Sweden)

Mstyslav, Mstyslava (Ukraine)

Kenya, Octavia, Tavia, Tucker (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 106 of 2024; 260 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 16 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Saille (Willow) [Day 2 of 28]

Chinese: Month 3 (Wu-Chen), Day 7 (Ji-You)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 7 Nisan 5784

Islamic: 66 Shawwal 1445

J Cal: 16 Cyan; Twosday [16 of 30]

Julian: 2 April 2024

Moon: 50%: 1st Quarter

Positivist: 22 Archimedes (4th Month) [Varro]

Runic Half Month: Man (Human Being) [Day 6 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 28 of 92)

Week: 3rd Week of April

Zodiac: Aries (Day 26 of 31)

[rayyan-talha]

Reflection #3 - What it Means to be Asian in America

Asia is host to the most people on the planet. Roughly 60% (59.22%) of the global population resides in Asia. Numbers-wise, thats about 4.7 billion people. However with "Asian-Americans" like myself, we have a hard time explaining who we are in this country, particularly our cultural origin.

According to the census, Asians in the USA comprise of only 7.3% of the total population, still a major growth since the year I was born in 2000. Still, the somewhat racially motivated system is frustrating to the nearly 19 millon Asian Americans that reside in the United States. Culturally, the USA is keen on dividing and classifying people by scientifically racist "racial groups". We see this in the census system as blacks are just "black" and hispanics do not even have their own race box. Even people from the middle east and north Africa are classified as "white" although they share little to no ethnic, cultural, and biological ties to Europe in general. In the UK for example, when someone refers to "Asian" it often means one of South Asian descent meaning Indian, Pakistani, Bengali, Sri Lankan, and by extension, Afghan. In the United States however, the first thing many people think of is a Chinese person, or if the interviewer is a bit more educated, then someone from East Asia (China, Japan, Koreas).

Personally, I relate less to a Chinese-American than I do with an Arab American, because our cultures are carbon copies of eachother linked with a common religion, Islam, and apparently I am not alone in my frustration. In Pew Research's report,

" a U.S.-born Pakistani man remarked on how “Asian” lumps many groups together – that the term is not limited to South Asian groups such as Indian and Pakistani, but also includes East Asian groups. Similarly, an immigrant Nepalese man described how “Asian” often means Chinese for many Americans. A Filipino woman summed it up this way:

“Now I consider myself to be both Filipino and Asian American, but growing up in [Southern California] … I didn’t start to identify as Asian American until college because in [the Los Angeles suburb where I lived], it’s a big mix of everything – Black, Latino, Pacific Islander and Asian … when I would go into spaces where there were a lot of other Asians, especially East Asians, I didn’t feel like I belonged. … In media, right, like people still associate Asian with being East Asian.”

–U.S.-born woman of Filipino origin in mid-20s

Participants also noted they have encountered confusion or the tendency for others to view Asian Americans as people from mostly East Asian countries, such as China, Japan and Korea. For some, this confusion even extends to interactions with other Asian American groups. A Pakistani man remarked on how he rarely finds Pakistani or Indian brands when he visits Asian stores".

As a Pakistani American with Middle Eastern roots myself, I can first hand feel what these people have described. Being lumped as "Asian" does smaller ethnic groups a major disservice of being underrepresented. A major example of this was the recently removed affirmative action. According to Pew Reserach, an Asian American applicant has a 20% harder chance to make it into a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) program than a white applicant does. Despite being in 2023 only 7.3% of the population, we have by far the hardest chances of attending any school on the basis of race, an extremely ironic outcome for affirmative action, brought into law for equal and fair admissions for underrepresentated groups. Personally, I was waitlisted at my dream school, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor on the basis of race, where as my white and hispanic classmates got in on the first try, despite having the same GPA and SAT/ACT scores, and extracurricular activites. To us Asian Americans, it seems to be a punishment of some sort of being successful. According to Pew Research, a whopping 76% of Asian Americans say that race should NOT be a factor in collegiate admissions.

This issue lies in the root cause; labeling certain groups who originate in Asia as "Asian Americans". As stated earlier, Middle Easterners technically also originate from Asia, yet they are classified as 'White" further distorting demographic surveys and data. Personally as a Pakistani I relate more to Middle Eastern culture because it is extremely similar, yet officially I am classified as a different race altogether. How is it fair that many of my friends whom originate from a bordering country as my ethnic homeland who follow the same culture and religion get an easier path in life simply because they classify as a race that superceedes any other individualistic quality? As a Pakistani-American, I am given a tougher time to succeed because there are millions more Indians and Chinese in the United States then Pakistanis, but due to being lumped into one group creates a statistical failure for all "diversity" programs and protocols out there for marginalized ethnic groups like mine. Political figures and the media often use Asians as scapegoats of "Model Minorities" to finger point at African Americans for being unable to climb the economic ladder. Little are they aware that this was done by design, signed into law with the immigration and nationality act of 1965, brought into the limelight due to the civil rights movement of the 60s. This act legally prioritized those immigrants who were relatives of U.S. citizens, legal permanent resident, professionals, and/or other individuals with specialized skills, meaning those with collegiate education or seeking higher education in the USA, the core cause of massive Asian immigration today.

Due to media, education, stereotypical assumptions, and the clearly racially motivated census program, many Asian Americans speak about how it is so difficult to bridge the gap between their cultures and what is expected of them in the broader American landscape. Every single one of us, especially those born here like me, go through a major identity crisis sooner or later. As an Indian-American man in his early 30s concluded,

"When talking about what it means to be “American,” participants offered their own definitions. For some, “American” is associated with acquiring a distinct identity alongside their ethnic or racial backgrounds, rather than replacing them. One Indian participant put it this way:

“I would also say [that I am] Indian American just because I find myself always bouncing between the two … it’s not even like dual identity, it just is one whole identity for me, like there’s not this separation. … I’m doing [both] Indian things [and] American things. … They use that term like ABCD … ‘American Born Confused Desi’ … I don’t feel that way anymore, although there are those moments … but I would say [that I am] Indian American for sure.”

–U.S.-born woman of Indian origin in early 30s

Meanwhile, some U.S.-born participants view being American as central to their identity while also valuing the culture of their family’s heritage.

Citations:

“Asia Population (Live).” Worldometer. Accessed July 24, 2023. https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/asia-population/#:~:text=The%20current%20population%20of%20Asia,%22)%2C%20ordered%20by%20population.

Ruiz, Neil G. “Asian Americans Hold Mixed Views around Affirmative Action.” Pew Research Center Race & Ethnicity, June 8, 2023. https://www.pewresearch.org/race-ethnicity/2023/06/08/asian-americans-hold-mixed-views-around-affirmative-action/.

Ruiz, Neil G. “What It Means to Be Asian in America.” Pew Research Center Race & Ethnicity, August 2, 2022. https://www.pewresearch.org/race-ethnicity/2022/08/02/what-it-means-to-be-asian-in-america/.

Wong, Alia. “Affirmative Action Critics Paint Asian Americans as the ‘model Minority.’ Why That’s False.” USA Today, November 9, 2022. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2022/11/06/affirmative-action-case-harvard-admissions-asian-americans/10599572002/.

[satrangee-ray]

MEET MY MC:

Dr. Inara Hepburn (she/they)

Doctor, internal medicine | Leader of the Diagnostics team at Bloom Edenbrook Hospital, Boston.

Fiction novel writer | Published books include 'Phoenix' and 'The blurry insides of Truth' | Pen name: Indradhanush.

Non-binary | biromantic | demisexual | Out and proud.

Queer rights activist.

More below the cut—

Physical features:

Height: 5 ft 8 inches

Eye colour: Green

Hair colour: Dark brown

Current face claim: A customized cartoon character from Avatoon.

General info:

Birthdate: 21st May, 1992

Age: 29 years

Zodiac: Gemini

Birthstone: Emerald 

Ancestral background: Indian, from mom's side, American from Dad's.

Hometown: LA, California (born); Kolkata, West Bengal (brought up).

Education: St. Jonathan's Convent, Kolkata; Presidency University, Kolkata; Boston University School of Medicine.

Nationality: Citizen of India, applied for a green card in the US.

Family: Manimala B. Hepburn (Mom, passed away in 2017), Thomas Hepburn (Dad, dead to Inara, they'll kill me on knowing that I've mentioned him here), Juthika Banerjee (Maternal aunt), Bhaskar Banerjee (Maternal uncle), Swara Banerjee (Cousin), Ayan Goswami and Vaani Sinha (Childhood friends, chosen family).

S/O(s): Pranani Dutta (ex, dated for 4 years) Vaani Sinha (ex, a brief trial before realizing it wouldn't work out), Dr. Ethan Jonah Ramsey (current long term partner).

Nicknames: Rookie (Ethan), Inu (Pranani), Nars (literally everyone), Tara (family members), Kokil (mom).

Personality traits: Witty, empathetic, kind as to let people walk all over them. Alternates between extreme don't-give-a-f*ck and extreme people pleasing attitudes, struggles to say no. Sarcastic to the bone, and a complete clown in front of people close to her. Communist, idealistic, but passionate enough to put in the work to get the world to the place she deems it should be.

Random facts: 

Inara is bilingual. She can converse fluently in English, Bengali, or Hindi, and is currently learning Spanish for her newfound love of Spanish music.

Proud owner of a typewriter, Geetabitan, the entire Hercule Poirot book collection, and the Diagnostics Principles by Dr. Ethan Ramsey.

Having grown up among extreme financial crunches, Inara is a bit too stingy for their own good. They squeeze toothpaste out of tubes till the last drop, choose to buy only specific vegetables according to cost efficiency, stitch and alter old clothes to reuse multiple times, and cannot for their life attend a single rich people event without wearing a constant "save me" look on their face.

She can sing. Really well, but she sucks at playing an instrument. Or… she can do both, but not simultaneously. She barely learnt to play a little bit of the harmonium and the ukulele, but she always wanted a partner who either has a good voice or plays an instrument. Luckily for her, Ethan has a passable singing voice, but she had fallen for him a little more when she had gotten to know he plays the cello. 

Inara's 3 main life obsessions include rainbow merchandise, clothing in general, and earphones. They can sell themselves for the love of these goods, and if you as much as touch these belongings of theirs, they will set you on fire. An important ground rule they always establish with their intercourse partner is that their clothes cannot be harmed in the process of taking them off. Ethan had once ripped off a button, and they did not talk to him for an entire day until he ordered ten more such satin shirts at his own expense.

Inara loves cats! Animals in general, but more specifically cats. No wonder she's dating Ethan.

Rabindrasangeet SNOB, their favourite pass-time with Naveen is to mutually obsess over the white-bearded man's songs. They also have sort of an inside joke with him, that they might secretly be related to him, cause he and their mother share the same maiden surname, whereas he and they, an incredible and easy bond.

Inara has two patent nicknames she loves to address other people with. The first one is Honey, which is mostly used as a sarcastic form of address, and the second B*tch, is used as an affectionate one. 

They are a self-proclaimed wannabe stereotypical queerperson. They want to have at least 7 piercings in weird places on their body, and tattoos depicting random stuff like a cat in those savage sunglasses, or deep quotes saying "stay strong". But unfortunately, they are not strong enough to even think about the prospect of needles piercing their skin. Hence, they try to treasure that one nose piercing their mom had gotten done on them when they were little. As of now they also drink iced coffee, reply in key-smashes, pity queerphobes with a passion, and look forward to the day they'll be brave enough to dye their entire hair blue, orange, or purple, and carry it off in style.

So that was my entry for the 'Meet my MC' event. I was so stoked ever since this was announced, but clueless for the longest time regarding what to post and how to post it. I'm so happy I finally did this, and I can't wait to know what everyone thinks.

Tagging: @openheartfanfics @adiehardfan @irisofpurple @barbean

[spaceandrobots]

Utopian Literature 5

20th-21st centuries

NEQUA or The Problem of the Ages by Jack Adams – A feminist utopian science fiction novel printed in Topeka, Kansas in 1900.

Sultana’s Dream (1905) by Begum Rokeya - A Bengali feminist Utopian story about Lady-Land.

A Modern Utopia (1905) by H. G. Wells – An imaginary, progressive utopia on a planetary scale in which the social and technological environment are in continuous improvement, a world state owns all land and power sources, positive compulsion and physical labor have been all but eliminated, general freedom is assured, and an open, voluntary order of “samurai” rules.[27]

Beatrice the Sixteenth by Irene Clyde – A time traveller discovers a lost world, which is an egalitarian utopian postgender society.[28]

Red Star (novel) (1908) Red Star (Russian: Красная звезда) is Alexander Bogdanov’s 1908 science fiction novel about a communist society on Mars. The first edition was published in St. Petersburg in 1908, before eventually being republished in Moscow and Petrograd in 1918, and then again in Moscow in 1922.

The Millennium: A Comedy of the Year 2000 by Upton Sinclair. A novel in which capitalism finds its zenith with the construction of The Pleasure Palace. During the grand opening of this, an explosion kills everybody in the world except eleven of the people at the Pleasure Palace. The survivors struggle to rebuild their lives by creating a capitalistic society. After that fails, they create a successful utopian society “The Cooperative Commonwealth,” and live happily forever after.[29]

Herland (1915) by Charlotte Perkins Gilman – An isolated society of women who reproduce asexually has established an ideal state that reveres education and is free of war and domination.

The New Moon: A Romance of Reconstruction (1918) by Oliver Onions[30]

The Islands of Wisdom (1922) by Alexander Moszkowski – In the novel various utopian and dystopian islands that embody social-political ideas of European philosophy are explored. The philosophies are taken to their extremes for their absurdities when they are put into practice. It also features an “island of technology” which anticipates mobile telephones, nuclear energy, a concentrated brief-language that saves discussion time and a thorough mechanization of life.

Men Like Gods (1923) by H. G. Wells – Men and women in an alternative universe without world government in a perfected state of anarchy (“Our education is our government,” a Utopian named Lion says;[31]) sectarian religion, like politics, has died away, and advanced scientific research flourishes; life is governed by “the Five Principles of Liberty,” which are privacy, freedom of movement, unlimited knowledge, truthfulness, and freedom of discussion and criticism.[citation needed]

Lost Horizon (1933) by James Hilton - The mythical community of Shangri-La

War with the Newts (1936) by Karel Čapek – Satirical science fiction novel.[citation needed]

For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs (1938, published in 2003) by Robert A. Heinlein – A futuristic utopian novel explaining practical views on love, freedom, drive, government and economics.[citation needed]

Islandia (1942) by Austin Tappan Wright – An imaginary island in the Southern Hemisphere, a utopia containing many Arcadian elements, including a policy of isolation from the outside world and a rejection of industrialism.[citation needed]

Walden Two (1948) by B. F. Skinner – A community in which every aspect of living is put to rigorous scientific testing. A professor and his colleagues question the effectiveness of the community started by an eccentric man named T.E. Frazier.[citation needed]

Childhood’s End (1954) by Arthur C. Clarke – Alien beings guide humanity towards a more economically productive and technologically advanced society, allowing humans to broaden their mental capacities.[citation needed]

Island (1962) by Aldous Huxley – Follows the story of Will Farnaby, a cynical journalist, who shipwrecks on the fictional island of Pala and experiences their unique culture and traditions which create a utopian society.[citation needed]

Eutopia (1967) by Poul Anderson

The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia (1974) by Ursula K. Le Guin - Is set between a pair of planets: one that like Earth today is dominated by private property, nation states, gender hierarchy, and war, and the other an anarchist society without private property.

Ecotopia: The Notebooks and Reports of William Weston (1975) by Ernest Callenbach – Ecological utopia in which the Pacific Northwest has seceded from the union to set up a new society.[32]

Woman on the Edge of Time (1976) by Marge Piercy – The story of a middle-aged Hispanic woman who has visions of two alternative futures, one utopian and the other dystopian.[33]

The Probability Broach (1980) by L. Neil Smith – A libertarian or anarchic utopia[34]

Voyage from Yesteryear (1982) by James P. Hogan – A post-scarcity economy where money and material possessions are meaningless.[35]

Bolo'Bolo (1983) by Hans Widmer published under his pseudonym P.M. – An anarchist utopian world organised in communities of around 500 people

Always Coming Home (1985) by Ursula K. Le Guin – A combination of fiction and fictional anthropology about a society in California in the distant future.[citation needed]

Pacific Edge (1990) by Kim Stanley Robinson – Set in El Modena, California in 2065, the story describes a transformation process from the late twentieth century to an ecologically sane future.[36]

The Fifth Sacred Thing (1993) by Starhawk – A post-apocalyptic novel depicting two societies, one a sustainable economy based on social justice, and its neighbor, a militaristic and intolerant theocracy.[citation needed]

3001: The Final Odyssey (1997) by Arthur C. Clarke – Describes human society in 3001 as seen by an astronaut who was frozen for a thousand years.

Aria (2001-2008) by Kozue Amano – A manga and anime series set on terraformed version of the planet Mars in the 24th century. The main character, Akari, is a trainee gondolier working in the city of Neo-Venezia, based on modern day Venice.[citation needed]

Manna (2003) by Marshall Brain – Essay that explores several issues in modern information technology and user interfaces, including some around transhumanism. Some of its predictions, like the proliferation of automation and AI in the fast food industry, are becoming true years later. Second half of the book describes perfect Utopian society.[37]

Uniorder: Build Yourself Paradise (2014), by Joe Oliver. Essay on how to build the Utopia of Thomas More by using computers.[38]

The Culture series by Iain M. Banks – a science fiction series released from 1987 through 2012. The stories centre on The Culture, a utopian, post-scarcity space society of humanoid aliens, and advanced superintelligent artificial intelligences living in artificial habitats. The main theme is of the dilemmas that an idealistic, more-advanced civilization faces in dealing with smaller, less-advanced civilizations that do not share its ideals, and whose behaviour it sometimes finds barbaric. In some of the stories action takes place mainly in non-Culture environments, and the leading characters are often on the fringes of (or non-members of) the Culture.

[mybeingthere]

I have always loved this picture without knowing who this person is. Totally theatrical - this guru has always satisfied our thirst for visual delights. Paramahansa Yogananda visiting Lake Chapala, Mexico, 1929.

Paramahansa Yogananda (born Mukunda Lal Ghosh, 1893 – 1952) was an Indian monk, yogi and guru who introduced millions to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his organization Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) / Yogoda Satsanga Society (YSS) of India, and who lived his last 32 years in America. 

A chief disciple of the Bengali yoga guru Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, he was sent by his lineage to spread the teachings of yoga to the West, to prove the unity between Eastern and Western religions and to preach a balance between Western material growth and Indian spirituality. His long-standing influence in the American yoga movement, and especially the yoga culture of Los Angeles, led him to be considered by yoga experts as the "Father of Yoga in the West."

Yogananda was the first major Indian teacher to settle in America, and the first prominent Indian to be hosted in the White House (by President Calvin Coolidge in 1927); his early acclaim led to him being dubbed "the 20th century's first superstar guru," by the Los Angeles Times. Arriving in Boston in 1920, he embarked on a successful transcontinental speaking tour before settling in Los Angeles in 1925. For the next two and a half decades, he gained local fame as well as expanded his influence worldwide: he created a monastic order and trained disciples, went on teaching-tours, bought properties for his organization in various California locales, and initiated thousands into Kriya Yoga. By 1952, SRF had over 100 centers in both India and the US; today, they have groups in nearly every major American city. His "plain living and high thinking" principles attracted people from all backgrounds among his followers. 

Continue reading https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramahansa_Yogananda

[ucflibrary]

Welcome to May which is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month!

As you can imagine, Asian Pacific American as a topic covers vast oceans of identity and information. In fact, an Asian Pacific American is an American (whether born, naturalized, or other) who was born on or has heritage from anywhere on the Asian continent and the Pacific islands of Melanesia (New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands), Micronesia (Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia) and Polynesia (New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, Midway Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, French Polynesia and Easter Island). These areas cover a wide array of languages, cultures, religions, and ethnicities that have brought countless skills, hopes and dreams to the United States.

UCF Libraries faculty and staff have suggested these books and movies within the library’s collection by or about Asian Pacific Americans. Click the link below to see the full list, descriptions, and catalog links. With the Libraries still on remote access, we do not have our usual extended physical display, but have created a reading list full of additional ebooks and streaming videos for you to enjoy: Asian Pacific American Heritage ereading.

Aloha Rodeo: three Hawaiian cowboys, the world's greatest rodeo, and a hidden history of the American West by David Wolman and Julian Smith In August 1908, three unknown riders arrived in Cheyenne, Wyoming, their hats adorned with wildflowers, to compete in the world’s greatest rodeo. Steer-roping virtuoso Ikua Purdy and his cousins Jack Low and Archie Ka’au’a had travelled 4,200 miles from Hawaii to test themselves against the toughest riders in the West. Dismissed by whites, who considered themselves the only true cowboys, the native Hawaiians would astonish the country, returning home champions—and American legends. Suggested by Megan Haught, Student Learning & Engagement/Research & Information Services

 America for Americans: a history of xenophobia in the United States by Erika Lee The United States is known as a nation of immigrants. But it is also a nation of xenophobia. Acclaimed historian Erika Lee shows that an irrational fear, hatred, and hostility toward immigrants has been a defining feature of our nation from the colonial era to the Trump era. Americans have been wary of almost every group of foreigners that has come to the United States. Xenophobia has not been an exception to America's immigration tradition, an episodic aberration on an inevitable march toward inclusion. It is, in fact, Lee argues, an American tradition in its own right, deeply embedded in our society, economy, and politics, Forcing us to confront this history, Lee explains how xenophobia works, why it has endured, and how it threatens us all. It is a necessary corrective and spur to action for any concerned citizen. Suggested by Peter Spyers-Duran, Cataloging

 Anatomy of a Springroll written and directed by Paul Kwan and Arnold Iger This dazzling film is a gigantic stirfry of savory images - Paul and his mother cooking in his San Francisco kitchen, street vendors simmering their soups, bustling markets piled with peppers, cilantro, and chilis. In America, cooking is often a solitary experience, but in Vietnam it is a family affair, with everyone cutting, chopping, and stirring while chattering. Suggested by Missy Murphey, Research & Information Services

 Asian American X: an intersection of twenty-first-century Asian American voices edited by Arar Han and John Hsu This refreshing and timely collection of coming-of-age essays, edited and written by young Asian Americans, powerfully captures the joys and struggles of their evolving identities as one of the fastest-growing groups in the nation and poignantly depicts the many oft-conflicting ties they feel to both American and Asian cultures. The essays also highlight the vast cultural diversity within the category of Asian American, yet ultimately reveal how these young people are truly American in their ideals and dreams. Suggested by Sandy Avila, Research & Information Services

 Asian American Youth: culture, identity and ethnicity edited by Jennifer Lee and Min Zhou Lee and Zhou cover topics such as Asian immigration, acculturation, assimilation, intermarriage, socialization, sexuality, and ethnic identification. The distinguished contributors show how Asian American youth have created an identity and space for themselves historically and in contemporary multicultural America. Suggested by Missy Murphey, Research & Information Services

 Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in Congress, 1900-2017 edited by Albin J. Kowalewski The most comprehensive history available on the Asian and Pacific Islander Americans who have served in Congress. Suggested by Megan Haught, Student Learning & Engagement/Research & Information Services

 At America's Gates: Chinese immigration during the exclusion era, 1882-1943 by Erika Lee Drawing on a rich trove of historical sources--including recently released immigration records, oral histories, interviews, and letters--Lee brings alive the forgotten journeys, secrets, hardships, and triumphs of Chinese immigrants. Her timely book exposes the legacy of Chinese exclusion in current American immigration control and race relations. Suggested by Peter Spyers-Duran, Cataloging

 City Girls: the Nisei social world in Los Angeles, 1920-1950 by Valerie J. Matsumoto Matsumoto recovers and explores the forgotten world of urban Nisei girls' ethnocultural networks in California. By the 1920s Nisei girls' clubs had taken root in Los Angeles and provided a key venue in which young urban women could claim modern femininity, an American identity, and public space. These groups served as a bulwark against racial discrimination, offering a bridge between the immigrant community's expectations of young women and the lure of popular culture. Suggested by Missy Murphey, Research & Information Services

 Keywords for Asian American Studies edited by Cathy J. Schlund-Vials, Linda Trinh Võ, and K. Scott Wong Born out of the Civil Rights and Third World Liberation movements of the 1960s and 1970s, Asian American Studies has grown significantly over the past four decades, both as a distinct field of inquiry and as a potent site of critique. Characterized by transnational, trans-Pacific, and trans-hemispheric considerations of race, ethnicity, migration, immigration, gender, sexuality, and class, this multidisciplinary field engages with a set of concepts profoundly shaped by past and present histories of racialization and social formation. Spanning multiple histories, numerous migrations, and diverse populations, this work reconsiders and recalibrates the ever-shifting borders of Asian American studies as a distinctly interdisciplinary field Suggested by Sandy Avila, Research & Information Services

 Not Quite Not White: losing and finding race in America by Sharmila Sen At the age of 12, Sharmila Sen emigrated from India to the U.S. and everywhere she turned, she was asked to self-report her race: on INS forms, at the doctor's office, in middle school. Never identifying with a race in the India of her childhood, she rejects her new "not quite" designation: not quite white, not quite black, not quite Asian, and spends much of her life attempting to blend into American whiteness. But after her teen years trying to assimilate, she is forced to reckon with the hard questions: What does it mean to be white, why does whiteness retain the magic cloak of invisibility while other colors are made hypervisible, and how much does whiteness figure into Americanness? Suggested by Ven Basco, Research & Information Services

 Shoal of Time: the history of the Hawaiian islands by Gavan Daws Gavan Daws' remarkable achievement is to free Hawaiian history from the dust of antiquity. Based on years of work in the documentary sources, Shoal of Time emerges as the most readable of all Hawaiian histories. Suggested by Tim Ryan, Administration

 The End of Peril, the End of Enmity, the End of Strife, a Haven by Thirii Myo Kyaw Myint An unnamed narrator returns to her ancestral home in an environmentally depleted harbor city with a baby in her care. She has escaped from what she calls "the breach"--the collapse of the climate-controlled domed city where she grew up. The narrator's mother disappears, and the baby falls ill. The narrator then journeys to city's river to perform the funeral rites for her mother and cure the baby. At the river, the three narrative threads come together. Suggested by Ven Basco, Research & Information Services

 The American dream?: a journey on Route 66, discovering dinosaur statues, muffler men, and the perfect breakfast burrito by Shing Yin Khor An illustrated comic travelogue about an American immigrant driving alone through all that's left of "The Mother Road," Route 66. Suggested by Jacqui Johnson, Cataloging

 The Atlas of Reds and Blues: a novel by Devi S. Laskar When a woman known only as Mother moves her family from Atlanta to its wealthy suburbs, she discovers that neither the times nor the people have changed since her childhood in a small Southern town. She is met with the same questions: Where are you from? No, where are you really from? The American-born daughter of Bengali immigrants, she finds that her answer is never enough. One morning, during a violent and unfounded police raid on her home, Mother finally refuses to be complacent. As she lies bleeding from a gunshot wound, her thoughts race through her life, and what it means to be a woman of color in today's America. Suggested by Peter Spyers-Duran, Cataloging

 They Called Us Enemy written by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott ; art by Harmony Becker A stunning graphic memoir recounting actor/author/activist George Takei's childhood imprisoned within American concentration camps during World War II. Experience the forces that shaped an American icon -- and America itself -- in this gripping tale of courage, country, loyalty, and love. Suggested by Ven Basco, Research & Information Services

 You Don't Know Jack: the Jack Soo story directed by Jeff Adachi This film tells the fascinating story of a pioneering American entertainer Jack Soo, an Oakland native who became the first Asian American to be cast in the lead role in a regular television series Valentine's Day (1963), and later starred in the popular comedy show Barney Miller (1975-1978). Featuring rare footage and interviews with Soo's co-stars and friends, the film traces Jack's early beginnings as a nightclub singer and comedian, to his breakthrough role as Sammy Fong in Rogers and Hammerstein's Broadway play and film version of The Flower Drum Song. The film also explores why Soo, a former internee who was actually born Goro Suzuki, was forced to change his name in the post WWII era, in order to perform in clubs in the mid-west. Because of his experiences, throughout his career in films and television, Soo refused to play roles that were demeaning to Asian Americans and often spoke out against negative ethnic portrayals. Suggested by Peggy Nuhn, Connect Libraries

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 5.19 (after 1930)

1933 – Finnish cavalry general C. G. E. Mannerheim is appointed the field marshal. 1934 – Zveno and the Bulgarian Army engineer a coup d'état and install Kimon Georgiev as the new Prime Minister of Bulgaria. 1942 – World War II: In the aftermath of the Battle of the Coral Sea, Task Force 16 heads to Pearl Harbor for repairs. 1943 – Winston Churchill's second wartime address to the U.S. Congress. 1945 – Syrian demonstrators in Damascus are fired upon by French troops injuring twelve, leading to the Levant Crisis. 1950 – A barge containing munitions destined for Pakistan explodes in the harbor at South Amboy, New Jersey, devastating the city. 1950 – Egypt announces that the Suez Canal is closed to Israeli ships and commerce. 1959 – The North Vietnamese Army establishes Group 559, whose responsibility is to determine how to maintain supply lines to South Vietnam; the resulting route is the Ho Chi Minh trail. 1961 – Venera program: Venera 1 becomes the first man-made object to fly by another planet by passing Venus (the probe had lost contact with Earth a month earlier and did not send back any data). 1961 – At Silchar Railway Station, Assam, 11 Bengalis die when police open fire on protesters demanding state recognition of Bengali language in the Bengali Language Movement. 1962 – A birthday salute to U.S. President John F. Kennedy takes place at Madison Square Garden, New York City. The highlight is Marilyn Monroe's rendition of "Happy Birthday". 1963 – The New York Post Sunday Magazine publishes Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail. 1971 – Mars probe program: Mars 2 is launched by the Soviet Union. 1986 – The Firearm Owners Protection Act is signed into law by U.S. President Ronald Reagan. 1991 – Croatians vote for independence in a referendum. 1993 – SAM Colombia Flight 501 crashes on approach to José María Córdova International Airport in Medellín, Colombia, killing 132. 1996 – Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on mission STS-77. 1997 – The Sierra Gorda biosphere, the most ecologically diverse region in Mexico, is established as a result of grassroots efforts. 2000 – Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-101 to resupply the International Space Station. 2007 – President of Romania Traian Băsescu survives an impeachment referendum and returns to office from suspension. 2010 – The Royal Thai Armed Forces concludes its crackdown on protests by forcing the surrender of United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship leaders. 2012 – Three gas cylinder bombs explode in front of a vocational school in the Italian city of Brindisi, killing one person and injuring five others. 2012 – A car bomb explodes near a military complex in the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, killing nine people. 2015 – The Refugio oil spill deposited 142,800 U.S. gallons (3,400 barrels) of crude oil onto an area in California considered one of the most biologically diverse coastlines of the west coast. 2016 – EgyptAir Flight 804 crashes into the Mediterranean Sea while traveling from Paris to Cairo, killing all on board. 2018 – The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is held at St George's Chapel, Windsor, with an estimated global audience of 1.9 billion.

[brookston]

Holidays 4.15

Holidays

Anime Day

AR-15 Day

ASL Day (American Sign Language Day)

Banyan Tree Day (Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii)

Bija Mangala (Field Cultivation Festival)

Buck Rogers Day

Da Vinci Day

Day after Sidereal New Year (South and Southeast Asian) (a.k.a. …

Bengali New Year (India)

Bohag Bihu (Parts of India)

Himachl Day (Parts of India)

Lao New Yar (Laos)

Masadi (Parts of India)

Nababarsha (Parts of India)

New Year Holidays (Myanmar)

Sarhul (Parts of India)

Songkran (Thailand)

Water-Sprinkling Festival continues (Yunnan, China)

Day of People (Aysellant)

Day of the Sun (North Korea)

Father Damien Day (Hawaii)

Fluff Appreciation Day

415 Day

Freak Out Day

Gallaudet Day

Good Roads Day (Illinois)

Hillsborough Disaster Memorial Day (Liverpool, UK)

Hug Your Boiler Day

Income Tax Pay Day

International Biomedical Laboratory Science Day

International Pompe Day

Ivory Soap Day

Jackie Robinson Day

Kim Il Sung Day (North Korea)

Mariah Carey Day (California)

Melaka UNESCO Heritage Day (Malaysia)

Microvolunteering Day

National Anime Day

National ASL Day

National Collegiate Recovery Day

National Griper’s Day

National Hookup Day

National Keaton Day

National Laundry Day

National Poet Day (Peru)

National Rubber Eraser Day

National That Sucks Day

National Titanic Remembrance Day

One Boston Day

Poila Boishakh (Bengali New Year)

Purple Up Day

Quantum Teleportation Day

Rubber Eraser Day

Swallow Day (UK)

Take a Wild Guess Day

Tax Day (US)

Tax Resistor's Day

Tipsa Diena (Traditional start of plowing; Ancient Latvia)

Titanic Remembrance Day

Type 1 Diabetes Day

Universal Day of Culture

World Art Day

World Tiny Art Gallery Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Fast Food Day

McDonald’s Day

National Glazed Spiral Ham Day

National Takeout Day (Canada)

3rd Saturday in April

California Poppy Festival begins [3rd Saturday]

Hardware Freedom Day [3rd Saturday]

Husband Appreciation Day [3rd Saturday]

International Reconciliation Day [3rd Saturday]

National Auctioneers Day [3rd Saturday]

World Circus Day [3rd Saturday]

Independence Days

Independence Day Holiday (Israel)

Unitedlands (Declared; 2022) [unrecognized]

Vishwamitra (f.k.a. Children’s Group; Declared; 2007) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Abbo II of Metz (Christian; Saint)

Arshile Gorky (Artology)

Bananas with Everything Day (a.k.a. Banana Day; Pastafarian)

Basilissa and Anastasia (Christian; Martyrs)

Day of Tellus Mater (Pagan)

Easter Saturday (Orthodox Christian) [Day before Easter] (a.k.a. ... 

Good Saturday (Cyprus)

Great Saturday

Holy Saturday (Georgia)

Father Damien (The Episcopal Church)

Festival of Hero/Bast (Ancient Egypt)

Festival of Matsu/Mazu (Goddess of the Sea; Taoism)

Fordicidia (Old Roman Festival of Fertility to honor Ceres)

Hippachus (Positivist; Saint)

Hunna (Christian; Saint)

Leonardo da Vinci (Artology)

Munde (Christian; Saint)

Pammy (Muppetism)

Paternus of Avranches (Christian; Saint)

Peter Gonzales (Christian; Saint)

Ruadhan (Christian; Saint)

Tellus Mater (Old Roman Mother Earth Festival)

Vlad Tepes Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [14 of 53]

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Uncyclopedia Bad to Be Born Today (because the Titanic Sank and it’s also Tax Day.)

Premieres

The Adventures off Marco Polo (Film; 1938)

Aftermath, by The Rolling Stones (Album; 1966)

The Art of Real Happiness, by Norman Vincent Peale (Book; 1950)

Colors (Film; 1988)

Dark Command (Film; 1940)

Donald’s Nephews (Disney Cartoon; 1938)

Don’t Speak, by No Doubt (Song; 1996)

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (Film; 2022)

Fargo (TV Series; 2014)

The Fitzgeralds and The Kennedys, by Doris Kearns Goodwin (Book; 1987)

Flashdance (Film; 1983)

Genghis Khan (Film; 1965)

Girls (TV Series; 2012)

The Hypo-Chondri-Cat (WB MM Cartoon; 1950)

In Living Color (TV Series; 1990)

The Last Emperor (Film; 1988)

The Moon and Sixpence, by W. Somerset Maugham (Novel; 1919)

Outer Banks (TV Series; 2020)

Outer Range (TV Series; 2022)

Rattus Norvegicus, by The Stranglers (Album; 1977)

Ride ‘Em Plowboy (Disney Cartoon; 1928)

Rio (Animated Film; 2011)

Rock & Rule (Animated Film; 1983)

Rock for Light, by The Bad Brains (Album; 1983)

Stage Fright (Film; 1950)

Think, recorded by Aretha Franklin (Song; 1968)

Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On, by Jerry Lee Lewis (Song; 1957)

Wild, by Cheryl Strayed (Memoir; 2012)

Today’s Name Days

Anastasia, Damian, Una (Austria)

Rastislav, Teodor (Croatia)

Anastázie (Czech Republic)

Olympia (Denmark)

Uljas, Uljo, Verner, Verni (Estonia)

Linda, Tuomi (Finland)

César, Paterne (France)

Anastasia, Damian, Una (Germany)

Leonidas (Greece)

Anasztázia, Tas (Hungary)

Anastasio, Annibale (Italy)

Aelita, Agita, Balvis, Gastons (Latvia)

Anastazijus, Liudvina, Modestas, Vaidotė, Vilnius (Lithuania)

Oda, Odd, Odin (Norway)

Anastazja, Bazyli, Leonid, Ludwina, Modest, Olimpia, Tytus, Wacław, Wacława, Wiktoryn, Wszegniew (Poland)

Aristarh, Pud, Trofim (Romania)

Fedor (Slovakia)

Telmo (Spain)

Oliver, Olivia (Sweden)

Mstyslav, Mstyslava (Ukraine)

Kenya, Octavia, Tavia, Tucker (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 105 of 2024; 260 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of week 15 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Fearn (Alder) [Day 28 of 28]

Chinese: Second Month 2 (Gui-Mao), Day 25 (Gui-Mao)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 24 Nisan 5783

Islamic: 24 Ramadan 1444

J Cal: 14 Aqua; Sevenday [14 of 30]

Julian: 2 April 2023

Moon: 25%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 21 Archimedes (4th Month) [Hippachus]

Runic Half Month: Man (Human Being) [Day 6 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 27 of 90)

Zodiac: Aries (Day 26 of 30)

[yogaadvise]

6 Modern-Day Meditation Leaders You Can Learn From

Throughout background, individuals have actually picked spiritual instructors to help them get to an extra extensive spiritual connection.

The term guru has been made prominent to describe our most recognized teachers. The Sanskrit word guru means "dispeller of darkness." Our understanding of masters in the West is fairly current, going back to 1893, when Americans were presented to the mentors of Swami Vivekananda. And for the previous 120 years approximately, various prominent masters have taught us concerning meditation.

Whether you're brand-new to the practice of meditation or currently have made it a day-to-day routine, below are 6 educators who you must understand about-- and can learn from.

Swami Vivekananda, 1863-1902

“Stand up for God, allowed the world go."

Born in India, Swami Vivekananda first ended up being recognized in the United States during the Chicago Parliament of Religions kept in Chicago in 1893. This was the very first time Americans had been subjected to a Hindu monk.

Vivekananda would go on to instruct Americans about Vedanta approach. His objective was to help the West understand India's spiritual society, and to link the space between both nations. He was well obtained and respected for his huge knowledge of Eastern and Western societies along with his empathy for humanity.

Even though Vivekananda died prior to age 40 as well as his public service only lasted 10 years, the impact of his message was widespread. He started the Ramakrishna Order of Monks, which is one of the most predominant spiritual orders of India. Vivekananda is likewise recognized for his four publications on Hindu philosophy: Jnana-Yoga, Bhakti-Yoga, Karma-Yoga, and Raja-Yoga. Learn a lot more about Swami Vivekananda.

Paramahansa Yogananda, 1893-1952

Read a little. Practice meditation a lot more. Consider God at all times."

Paramahansa Yogananda-- who is best known for his literary masterpiece Autobiography of a Yogi-- was birthed as Mukunda Lal Ghosh in Gorakhpur, India to a well-off Bengali family members. His moms and dads were adherents of Lahiri Mahasaya, that was known for reintroducing Kriya Yoga ( the scientific technique of God-realization via the practice of a details form of meditation) in modern India.

As a young male, Yogananda's teacher told him that he was the selected one to bring expertise of Kriya Yoga to America et cetera of the world.

In 1920, Yogananda had a divine vision that it was time to begin his mentors in America. Right after, he went to Calcutta, where he was invited to speak in Boston as India's delegate to an international congress of religious leaders. The same year, he founded the Self-Realization Fellowship in Boston to spread the understanding of Kriya Yoga exercise as well as meditation.

The seeds of Yogananda's mentors have survived on via his self-realization facilities, which are located around the globe. Numerous locations have attractive meditation yards such as Lake Temple Gardens in Pacific Palisades, California and the Encinitas Hermitage, Retreat as well as Gardens in Encinitas, The golden state. Discover extra regarding the Self-Realization Fellowship.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 1918-2008

" The important thing is this: to be able, anytime, to sacrifice what we are wherefore we might come to be."

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who was a guru to numerous vocalists and Hollywood celebrities in the 1960s, became curious about a spiritual path after obtaining his Master's level in physics at Allahabad College in 1940.

After researching under master, Swami Bramananda Saraswati, he started the Spiritual Regeneration Motion as well as his globe trip to show meditation. He named his technique Transcendental Meditation and also increased his mentors to the UK as well as the U.S.

In 1961, he established his initial International instructor training program in Rishikesh, India, where meditators from around the world involved discover just how to show Transcendental Reflection. In 1971, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi founded his very first worldwide college, now situated in Fairfield, Iowa. There are greater than 5 million meditators that have actually learned as well as exercised the Transcendental Meditation strategy. Discover more about Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, 1956-present

" You need to await any type of difficulty. This readiness will make you pleased."

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, understood as a spiritual leader and also an ambassador of peace, founded The Art of Living Foundation as well as created the Sudarshan Kriya breathing technique.

Born in India, Sri (as his fans passionately call him) was a talented child that had the ability to recite parts of the Bhagavad Gita by age four. Sri holds levels in both Vedic literature and physics.

His goal is to educate people exactly how to live a worry-free life via The Art of Living Courses, which include breathing methods, reflection, yoga exercise, as well as pointers for daily living.

In 1997, Sri established the International Association for Human Worths (IAHV), a humanitarian company with a vision to boost human values. IAHV supplies disaster-relief funds throughout the world and also includes programs such as detainee rehabilitation and also injury relief for veterans.

As ambassador of tranquility, Sri has actually brought a message of non-violence as well as conflict resolution to nations such as Iraq, as well as the Indian states of Kashmir as well as Bihar. Discover more concerning Sri Ravi Shankar as well as his tour timetable.

Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi), 1953-present

" Our greatest, crucial duty in this world is to assist our fellow beings."

Mata Amritanandamayi or Amma, which indicates "Mom" as her fans call her, is well-known world vast as the "embracing saint." When on trip, Amma occasionally invests as much as 22 hrs a day embracing people that involve her for recovery and blessings.

When Amma was 9 years of ages, her mother became unwell as well as she had to stop school to look after her siblings. She would certainly go door-to-door to request for food and also discovered the hardship and also suffering in her little town in India. Filled up with empathy, she would certainly provide apparel and food from her house to others. Also as a young lady, when she saw individuals full of pain and despair, she would welcome them. It was uncommon for a young, after that adolescent girl to supply love and caring hugs to strangers, particularly guys. Yet Amma continued her goal of love despite the objection. Amma was additionally commonly discovered practicing meditation as a child.

In her work, she and also her skilled volunteers have actually educated even more than 1.3 million individuals to practice meditation with her straightforward reflection method called Integrated Amrita Reflection (IAM).

Through her company, Embracing the World, Amma not just provides love and convenience, she repays with selfless solution (seva). Welcoming the World feeds 10 million bad people in India every year, has actually built 45,000 residences for the homeless, as well as has developed a 1,300-bed hospital in Kerala, India. Find out more concerning Amma's work.

Deepak Chopra, 1947-present

" I, of training course, meditate for 2 hrs every early morning. I awaken at 4 a.m. on a daily basis as well as I enjoy it."

Deepak Chopra, that began his profession as a medical doctor in Boston, is the author of even more than 80 publications, founder of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing, as well as owner of The Chopra Foundation.

Born in New Delhi, India, Dr. Chopra dreamt of coming to be an author. His father, a cardiologist, urged him to pursue medical research studies. As chief of medication at New England Memorial Medical facility, Deepak became significantly irritated with Western medication. He experienced patients that just wanted alleviation through prescription medications. He started studying different medication, satisfied meditation master, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi with whom he learned Transcendental Reflection, and also began an effective career in natural medicine as well as all natural practices.

In 1996, he as well as Dr. David Simon started the Chopra Facility for Wellness in La Jolla. His publication Ageless Body, Timeless Mind relocated him to celeb status after it sold one million duplicates in hardcover. Drs. Chopra and Simon formed the Primordial Sound Meditation technique rooted in the ancient Vedic tradition of India. Although the origins of this mantra-based reflection method have been around for countless years, Dr. Chopra has mentored and educated hundreds of modern meditators, including lots of Hollywood celebrities, amongst them the late Michael Jackson. Find out more concerning Deepak.

Even if you do not follow a specific meditation educator, reviewing them and their lives, reviewing their books, and paying attention to their talks can influence you to elevate your level of consciousness.

[satrangee-ray]

Meet my MC: About the Past

Inara Hepburn (she/they)

Trigger warnings: Mentions of queerphobia, bullying, loss of family member, sexual harassment.

More below the cut—

All characters and events depicted are fictional, any resemblance to real incidents are purely coincidental. The writer has no intention to throw allegations on, or hurt the sentiments of any community.

Background and family dynamic:

Inara Hepburn was born in 1992 at Los Angeles, California, to Manimala B. Hepburn and Thomas Hepburn, mainly as a last attempt to save their drowning marriage. Their birth merely delayed the inevitable, and two years later Thomas split with Mani for another woman, leaving her free from a toxic and abusive relationship.

Jobless in a big city all on her own, Mani decided to move back to her paternal residence in Kolkata with her two year old, to ensure them a happy and safe life. She took up a teaching job at a government school to cover for their expenses.

Growing up, Inara had a fairly good relationship with their mom, even to the extent of calling her their best friend. This, however, changed drastically when Inara came out to their mom. She was highly disappointed in them for "turning out" the way they did, and she kept searching for means to try and "change" them. Inara, on the other hand, had never felt more misunderstood, and hence, the easy dynamic between the two turned into a rocky one, with both of them dancing around the queer topic for years.

When Inara was 16, she was first diagnosed with anxiety and depression. Unfortunately, her therapist too turned out to be quite tentative in their approval towards her identity. They believed they could make her feel differently with pills and a couple of sessions. Feeling alone in a huge fiasco with no cooperation whatsoever from her family, friends, or doctor, Inara took to flushing pills down the toilet, and channeling all her feelings into journaling in her diary. It was from here that she found an idea forming, and two months into it, she started writing her first novel.

For one and a half years, Inara secretly worked on this novel, pouring her heart and soul out into perfecting every word. Finally, when it was done, Inara asked her mom to give her one last chance to explain everything, and gave her this book to read. Conditions being, no questions should be asked until the entire book has been fully read. Mani agreed, and by the end of it, she was in tears. The book had successfully managed to change all her inhibitions regarding people of different identities. Touched by Inara's talent and dedication, she helped her publish the book under the pen name Indradhanush.

Things had started to change for the better in the Hepburn household. At 21, Inara flew abroad to attend medical school. Four years later, a week before their graduation, they found out that their mom had passed away in a car accident on her way to the airport.

After their mom's demise, their aunt from Northern Irelands re-established proper connection with them, as she was their only parental figure left. Their aunt, uncle and cousin still keep touch with them, through occasional chats or video calls on Whatsapp.

Education and career path:

Inara completed her primary and secondary education from St. Jonathan's Convent, Kolkata (fictional). Throughout her school years Inara was equally good in science and literature. History-geography was not her forte, and the only reason she took up physics-chemistry-bio after her 10th boards along with the compulsory literature subjects is to avoid those two. 

Outside of strict school studies, Inara had always been an inquisitive kid, questioning and introspecting everything in and around them to the degree that people called them crazy. Their mom had a masters in Bengali, hence they grew up in the environment of understanding and appreciating fiction. This led them to write poems and short stories from a very young age. They had almost decided on pursuing a literature based career.

In her school days, Inara was bullied for being "different"; aka both partially white and queer. She found it difficult to fit in, and hence the constant taunts became a part of her childhood trauma. She was also groped and sexually harassed by her math teacher in his office when she was in the 9th grade. Inara and her mom tried to report, but couldn't file a complaint as they were threatened by the said math teacher who held an important position in the church.

After 12th, Inara spent two years pursuing a bachelor's degree in English literature, and writing their second book. But by the first year, she had already encountered her life changing medical book 'Diagnostics Principles' by Dr. Ethan Ramsey (source: her family friend/physician), and her mind about her main career plans had begun to change. As soon as she made a decision, she quit college and took a year off to prepare for a medical entrance examination.

Having obtained a scholarship to study abroad, they took up their seat at a medical school in Boston, and completed their 4 year MBBS course. In the second year, their mom got another book of theirs published, this time a spy thriller, and that too recieved an overwhelming response. No one in their school or college knew it was them, cause it all happened under their pen name.

After graduation, she took up an internship position in Edenbrook Hospital, Boston.

Personal life:

The only best friends Inara had in school were Ayan and Vaani, a family outside of family. They were the ones to always defend her and have her back whenever they would get bullied. Later, Ayan too came out as gay, and Vaani is still questioning her sexuality, but between them three, there are never any judgements. 

Inara fell in love with their classmate Pranani when they were 14, and they dated secretly for 4 years. Pranani's mom was a teacher in the same school and had an influence in the administration. Inara looked up to Pranani's mom a lot, until they realized she was the one to deliberately put them under that math teacher, to replace her own daughter's seat and transfer her to another section. Pranani knew, and did nothing to change it. On being confronted, Pranani tried to gaslight Inara and forcefully kiss her to dissolve the situation. Soon after, Inara broke it off.

Inara always had feelings for Vaani, and they had a short fling in their college days after she confessed. It mutually ended after they realized Vaani wasn't ready to commit, and they were better off as friends.

Inara held a key position in the LGBTQ+ committee of their med university. They ran several campaigns funded by the college over the four years, in and outside of the campus, to spread awareness, as well as aid and advocate for people of the community.

Childhood obsessions timeline— (in order of which one started first, cause none ended till date).

Disney musicals, Barbie movies, Tinker Bell

Akbar-Birbal

Rabindrasangeet 

Sherlock Holmes

Western country music

Bio-chem (started early on, distinguished later, reignited at the start of their medical career)

Agatha Christie

Shakespeare

Queer fanfiction 

Diagnostics Principles :).

About the books:

Phoenix– The first book by Indradhanush, based on an NRI queer couple in California who after several life turmoils find themselves and have a happy ending that the author felt she and her then girlfriend deserved.

The blurry insides of Truth– Second book by Indradhanush, and the last published till date, about a woman whose marriage gets interrupted due to attempted murder of one of her guests on her wedding day. Her to-be husband, a CID officer, stands accused. To what lengths will she go to defend him? Is she really defending him though, or is nobody who they seem to be?

That was my entry people! I had to change the name of my MC's school, because I can't put allegations on any real and existing one.

Hope you got a good insight into the past of my dearest Inara's life.

Tagging: @openheartfanfics @adiehardfan @barbean

[mixdgrlproblems]

#MissWorldJapan 2016 #PriyankaYoshikawa who is #Indian & #Japanese, was tormented over the years although she was born in Japan. After facing a series of backlashes as a child & again once she was crowned, Priyanka decided to voice her opinions. #Multiracial children make up 2% of the entire population born annually in #Japan & they are looked down upon. “Japan puts all #hafu in the same bucket,” referring to the Japanese word for ‘half’ & a word to describe #mixed race. “Whether you’re part Russian, American or African, you’re still categorized as ‘hafu’ in Japan,” she said. She’s the 2nd #hāfu woman to be Miss Japan after #ArianaMiyamoto won the Miss Universe Japan title in 2015. “Before Ariana, hafu girls couldn’t represent Japan. That’s what I thought too. I didn’t doubt it or challenge it until today. Ariana encouraged me a lot by showing me & all mixed girls it’s possible.” Her mom is Japanese & her dad is #BengaliIndian. Her great-grandfather Prafulla Chandra Ghosh was the first Chief Minister of West Bengal. She was born in Tokyo. From ages 6 to 9, she lived in Sacramento, California. She also lived in Kolkata for 1 year before returning to Japan. She speaks fluent English, Bengali & Japanese. Before becoming Miss World Japan 2016, she worked as a translator, art therapist & also has a license to train elephants! "When I was in 5th grade, I was the only half in my school. I thought I wasn’t normal. Yes, I’m half Indian but people ask me about my ‘purity’ & I say ‘Yes, my dad is Indian. I’m proud that I have Indian in me. But that does not mean I’m not Japanese.” “Unfortunately I know a lot of hafu that suffer. We have problems, we’ve been struggling, it hurts. In Japan, everyone thought I was a germ. Like if they touched me they would be touching something bad. But I’m thankful now because that made me really strong.” She was also bullied as a child due to her skin colour. “Why does that bother people? Because I have darker skin? People still ask me if I eat curry every day or if I can use chopsticks. If you think you're Japanese, you’re Japanese” Period. 🇮🇳🇯🇵 #wcw #mixedgirl (at Tokyo, Japan) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_lDWuFFyvW/?igshid=ah2v41z2uypr

[saibalray]

CINEMA (WORKING TITLE)

1. THE PHONE CALL

Ray had just woken up from the bed in the morning. He brushed up his teeth. Then he prepared a cup of tea at the kitchen of his Chandigarh apartment. Then he came to his room and opened the laptop. He was clueless about what to do since his 5th novel just got released. Now he was planning to work on his sixth one. He had the idea in his mind. It was slowly taking a shape for the last few days. However, he was listening to a soothing music, when a phone call from a lady came at around 7 o’clock.

-        Hello.

-        Yes. Who is this?

-        Good Evening.

-        Good Morning!

-        I’m calling from California.

-        Yes tell me.

-        My name is Stella. Is this Ray?

-        Yes.

-        Okay. I have read your blog.

-        (Excited) Okay, how was it?

-        It’s great indeed!

-        Thanks!

-        Yes, now I have a proposal for you.

-        And what is that?

-        Can you write a cinematic novel out of your poems?

-        (Excited) Yes I was exactly thinking about that!

-        Yes, I know you can do it. I will fund this project.

-        Some poems are in Bengali?

-        I know I have read them too with the help of a translator.

-        But I have a question.

-        Okay.

-        Why are you interested in this project?

-        Because I am interested in male psychology.

-        I am also interested in female psychology.

-        So, are you gonna do it?

-        Yes, of course. But I have another question.

-        Yes tell me.

-        Who will direct the movie?

-        Of course you.

-        Yes, I won’t give it to anybody.

-        But on one condition.

-        I hate conditions!

-        Listen to me first.

-        Okay, tell me.

-        Yes, you won’t put name of any brand in your writing as you did in your previous novel.

-        That’s exactly what I want now.

-        Yes, it has to be pure.

-        And I won’t give it to anybody to direct.

-        I know. How could you? They are your people.

-        Are you gonna come to India to meet me?

-        Yes.

-        When?

-        I’ll tell you soon.

-        Okay, I will wait for your call.

-        Thanks, bye bye.

-        Bye.

-        Take care!

-        You too!

This was great indeed. Ray felt excited. He was now waiting for the call and thinking about how to plot the story. He finished the cup of tea and phoned his parents in Kolkata as he does every morning.

2. THE IDEA

After a long time Ray browsed through his Bengali blog. He put most of his diaries on this blog. The poems, he used to write on these diaries, were actually mere documentation of his feelings. He wrote poems always as a method of catharsis since the day his father taught him how to write poems. He still remembered the incident of his first faulty rhyme. His father before going for shopping told him how to rhyme. He simply collected some lines from his text book that ends with the same sound and put it together one by one. When his father returned, he showed him that. His father told him that he had to devise his own lines. This was the beginning of the journey. He did not remember what his first poem was since he discarded many poems as he did not like it. But the first diary was still there. In the beginning he had a habit of writing anywhere. But then his father gave him a diary. That was his first diary. He was mostly driven by his father’s teachings and girl friends that aroused feelings in his heart. In the primary school he had a special relationship with a girl Nabanita. She left because of her father’s transferable job. However, that time the media was not so connected and his father did not allow him to get too much influenced by the television. So his relationship with Nabanita was pure and platonic. After primary school, as Nabanita left, he got closer to another beautiful girl Madhurima. She was his main inspiration behind the first diary. His family had a close relation with their family. She was pretty indeed. But he never told him that he wrote poems getting inspired by her since he was afraid of his father. However, this girl had a tendency to play with the mind of other boys. He even fled with a tall boy, and her family rejected him afterwards. But Ray’s father taught him literature. So his feelings were really restricted within poems. He cherished the beauty and kept on writing and fell in love with poems. That was the beginning and till now it was going on. But as Stella asked him he was really brainstorming how to put the poems in a cinematic way. Let’s try some tools of cinema. He thought of montage. But it was not suitable for a poetic treatment. Poems could not be treated as playback since it was unlike songs. Mise-en-scene was the only way to deal with poems. Since she told him for a poetic treatment, she thought when he would make the movie; he would do it like Tarkovsky. ‘But let’s first write the novel’ – he thought. He always wrote poems in rhyme except a few in prosaic styles. After a long time he found a way to start the novel. The senses of the Bengali poems would be translated in English. The rhyme form might have been lost. And then he would describe his fantasies around the poem that could be shot. That would be the best way to write this novel he thought. Next morning Stella phoned again.

-        Hello, this is Stella here.

-        Yes, yes I have saved your number.

-        Okay. Did you find a way out?

-        Yes, but it’ll take time since I have to translate the Bengali poems.

-        Yes, that’s true.

-        But only the senses will be translated since it’s very difficult to translate the rhyme as it is.

-        Yes, I know. Every language has its own sound and that cannot be translated.

-        Hmm.

-        I have a surprise for you.

-        I’ll transfer a decent amount as advance to your account.

-        Okay.

-        Tell me how you want to receive it.

-        I’ll send you a link. Tell me the amount.                          

After that Stella told him about the amount and he sent a request online. And the amount got credited soon.

3. THE POEM ‘ARRIVAL’

The earth is dancing, the sky is dancing,

My heart is dancing.

I’m getting unstable by shaking it

With flower.

The river is babbling.

The butterfly is calling.

In the dawn to bathe

The holy girl is going.

The sky is very red.

The flower is getting relaxed.

The bees are drinking honey

Making their heart satiated.

Meanwhile the holidays

For one month is coming slowly.

On the raft the goddess

Is flying in slowly.

Relieving all the Goddess Madhurima

Is coming in.

Because of that I’m

So impatient.

4. THE FANTASY OF ‘ARRIVAL’

After writing this poem, he felt to fly with Madhurima across the sky. Then after coming down on the earth, he wanted to hug her. Then he wanted to go far away from the town. Then he wanted to touch her. After that he wanted to sleep with her in the catkin bush hiding from the nonsense of the crowd of the small town.

5. THE POEM ‘IN THE GREED OF PUJO’

The ‘Pujo’ is coming       The catkins are dancing

                   Just look at that.

In the desire of honey     The Shefali flowers

                  Falling on the ground.

The birds are flying          The river is flowing

                 It’s the time of autumn fair.

You and me                     Are playing only

                 The game of stealing mind.

I caress the dream         Inside my mind

             They may not come true.

Amid the Pujo               We will again build

             The days of dreams.

6. THE FANTASY OF ‘IN THE GREED OF PUJO’

He wrote the poem before the famous festival of Bengal. Everybody buys new clothes during this time. The relatives gift new clothes this time. And the lovers dream to be together this time. So he wanted to travel from pandal to pandal with Madhurima. But that time the society was too conservative. Every decent couple was scared of the old people. So they could not be together during the Pujo. But they wanted to travel from pandal to pandal together.

7. THE SPLIT RHYMES OF NEW YEAR

7.1 Amid the falling leaves

            The new sun is rising.

            See in the whole world

            The New Year is waking.

7.2. Wish in the New Year

               All is well.

                Let’s call the light

        Of New Sun.

7.3 On the new day the new card

     I am sending to you.

     Wish the new love with the new

     Become fulfilled.

7.4 Wish the dream of staying well

     Be mixed up with you.

     Wish our adda become

     More happening in the form of new.

7.5 Wetting it in syrup of love

     I give you the letter.

     Let the attire of friendship be dazzled

     In the new year.

7.6  Forgetting all, opening up the heart,

     Knowing only the new,

     I give you all my love

     Only to you.

8. THE FANTASY OF THE NEW YEAR

It was new year. So the poems naturally celebrated the new and the new love. He wanted to refresh their love. He used to design greeting cards cutting the art paper and drawing cartoons on it. And then he used to gift to her and all his friends. So, he gifted a card to her expecting to refresh his hidden desire.

9. THE POEM ‘SILENT LOVE’

On that side blooming a white rose

A tree is giving its look.

On this side there is a bee hive

And the bees are singing with hazy tone.

When it’s dawn, the bees go to the tree

Dancing with the queen.

The mindboggling smell of flower –

The bell of heart starts ringing.

He wants to say something.

But he hides his face from the flower.

He goes time and again and comes back.

The mind is dreamful.

He thinks too far –

How to tell the flower what he thinks.

Probably the flower’s mind also swings

On the lap of bee’s imagination.

The tale of this intense love –

Who will tell by any chance?

Who will tell? Who will tell?

Who will tell unmindfully?

10. THE FANTASY OF ‘SILENT LOVE’

Actually this poem he wrote since he could not tell her that he was in love with her. So he used to go to her every day. He used to play with her. But he could never tell her that he was in love with her. She also did not know what love was actually. She enjoyed playing with her. But it was the innocence of puberty that attracted both of them towards each other. But they did not know what to say. They were crazy to be fused with each other. But they were scared and unmindful.

11. THE POEM ‘LET IT BE SALTY’

In the teen if the touch comes in,

The touch of falling in love and coming close,

‘I’ll sit by you, I’ll come close to you’- if the mind thinks,

They stick to each other, and they will not listen to anyone.

People say, ‘O my god, the brat is totally spoiled’.

The brat says, ‘Damn it! I have just started to taste it’.

The age says ‘Leave the lecture, this is our demand.’

‘Just fifteen – how can we forget the new fun?’

This is true, this is true – the glue of raw jackfruit!

Is it so easy to remove even if you make the dog lick?

The dog also follows rule, the tether is true.

But this brat continues to dance on the rope of love.

The green tamarind is so sour – you eat with salt.

So let it be a little more, even if it’s the raw age.

The raw age is very sour; so salt is inevitable.

Let the love be salty; what’s so harmful in it?

This love may not stay in the old age.

So the memory should stay there as the heart wants.

A little bit of sweet meat, who wants to eat?

Let the small memory be salty –only it will be tasty then.

12. THE FANTASY OF ‘LET IT BE SALTY’

This poem was written after he read a novel of Bankim, where the old writer was describing how it felt to cherish the memory of teenage love. He was totally influenced by that novel. His uncle gifted it to him. So he wrote this poem to forget the pain of not being able to disclose the love to her girl friend. He forgot the pain temporarily by reading Bankim.

13. THE POEM ‘LOVE BEGGAR’

All the secrets

I’ll pour off.

I’ll forsake the shame.

Pull me close

And give me love

Full of your heart.

I want love.

I want madness.

I am mad for you.

Give me love,

Only love.

You just give it to me.

Squeeze me with your

Naked hands and

Blood red lips.

Whatever I have

Snatch it all

And give me your love.

If I get love

I’ll go and

I’ll leave all.

I’ll go to the land of sun,

Where the dream oozes.

14. THE FANTASY OF ‘LOVE BEGGAR’

He was crazy for her girl friend. He wanted to leave home with her. He wanted to go to someplace else far away from the daily life. Dreams that defy the reality he wrote as this poem. He wanted to go to somewhere, where there will be no disturbance to dream big. But he never wanted to be alone. He wanted to explore dreams that were unreachable for the reality. He was impatient to get her girl friend. He was telling himself that he could do anything to get her as a life partner. But he was clueless under the blue sky like a beggar. He was begging for her love.

15. THE POEM ‘BUTTERFLY’

Butterfly The showy colours of your wings,

               The style of yours on the flowers,

                Are too sweet.

                At your eyes I put my eyes

                And there is the rain of

                Happiness.

Butterfly   Looking at you

                 I feel calm and

                 I keep on dreaming.

                 I lose my way suddenly,

                 The chariot of mirth full of

                 The smell of love

                  Flies in my heart.

Butterfly      Your dazzling dance

                    And the makeup on the flower –

                     Make me hypnotized.

                     I see you and I think where

                     Is the key of your mind.

                     I feel like opening the lock.

Butterfly      On your breast the music is dormant.

                    My heart floods with emotion -

                    The sight of your eyes.

                    When your heart dances

                     The new song of love

                     Gets created.

Butterfly       On your wing the new song

                     Makes my heart filled

                     With the sweet smell of honey.

                     My mind wants you

                     Loving you all the time

                     In the rhyme of love.

Butterfly       Your heart and my mind

                     Will stay together forever

                     Looking at the world.

                     Faraway there the sky floats on air

                     Starry eyes come to see.

                     Along with our heart.

16. THE FANTASY OF ‘BUTTERFLY’

Her nickname was butterfly. He used to call her with this name. He used to cherish looking at her. Every time he looked at her, his heart used to become full of emotions. He used to think of how to praise her. Thus he wrote this poem.

17. THE POEM ‘FIRST MEETING’

Going along without goal

Suddenly I saw on the way

Standing, who are you?

The moon like face of yours

From my heart everything

Just squeezes away.

The soft smile of your red lips –

The love flute plays in heart –

Please tell me who you are.

Who is this enchantress of the dreamland?

At the first glimpse,

She snatched my heart.

With soft eyes and polite smile

You looked at me with love.

-only seeing that

I am flooded with love tide.

So with stormy heart

I am looking for you.

18. THE FANTASY OF ‘FIRST MEETING’

It was a complete imagination. Though he met her before and played with her before and gossiped with her before, he dreamt of a dream date with her. And that reflects in the poem. It was a dream to meet her as for the first time.

19. THE POEM ‘THE FIRST’

The known eyes are lost.

Nobody knows where.

Yet, in the dream in every morning and evening

They call me.

At the warm red lips

And vibrating cheeks

The heart got stuck

Many days back.

In this life I can’t forget

The enchantress.

For her there’s this touch of love

And dreamful pain.

For her the dreamy seven hues

Fall on the heart

And makes it crazy, mad

And dizzy very often.

With the rhyme of honey

And sweet smell, she came close.

In the mind that comes

Every time with illusion.

I love that sweet smile

Till now during spare time.

All pain gets relieved because of

That memory.

Who will understand and who will make me understand why the mind is shaky.

The heart is still wet with

The juice of first love.

20. THE FANTASY OF ‘THE FIRST’

He was writing this poem in Kolkata sitting at a mess. By this time he joined a reputed college in Kolkata for higher studies. He left his home. But he would go frequently to his home town so that he could meet her again. This was starting of getting distant from her. Far away from home he missed her too much and always he would be eager to go back home just to see her. This first love would make her completely homesick.

21: THE POEM ‘DREAM’

You are the hope of weary mind;

Without you active eyes are blind.

You always smear pale faces with freshness;

You are the love of minds, vexed and hopeless.

You give both eyes a new happy sight,

You are the mirth and sorrow at midnight.

I feel crazy to cuddle you turning off lights;

I find lost songs in you every day and night.

Only you can allay my heart's agonies,

You are the elixir, I love you like a beast.

22. THE FANTASY OF ‘DREAM’

He felt lonely out there in the big city. He was uncertain about his future. So he was clueless about how go back to her girl friend. He was anxious about losing her any day. So he was trying to relax himself. On one hand there was his girl friend and on the other hand there was his dream. This was the time when these two emotions started clashing with each other. It was not about choosing one among them. It was about how to handle these two. So since he missed her and also he dreamt about her every day, he wrote this poem. This was very critical to understand this poem. Very precisely in her absence, he surrendered to his dream. It was like meditating in the crowded lonely city. When nothing was there, he had his dream.

23. THE POEM ‘I JUST LOVE YOU’

Amorous butterfly you have come

And stood before me.

Seeing you the harp of my heart

Is playing loudly.

Suave smile, white face

And bright eyes

Make me mad.

So sweet is your frown.

You are sweet, you are the creation.

Seeing you I feel happy.

I see you there and in dream.

I feel so happy.

So for words of your red lips

I come time and again.

Forgetting everything, opening heart

I just love you.

24. THE FANTASY OF ‘I JUST LOVE YOU’

He returned home in a vacation. Again he saw her out there. But he was afraid to approach her. The distance by now had grown more. She used to go by their house. She used sit on the culvert in front of her house. He used to sit with his friends. Everybody wanted to know his feelings. But the distance started to grow more. He understood that slowly she was going away from him. But she did not want it. He did not want it. But he could not tell it to her too because he had to score good in the examinations. And love was seen as a poison for concentration. But he could not tell anybody that he needed her to score good marks in the examinations. Since for more than seven years she inspired him to write poems and scoring good marks in the examinations. So her absence and his shy mind made everything impossible for him. He just could not reveal it to anybody.

25. THE PEOM ‘AT YOU’

I came to your heart

With a lot of hope,

As the Autumn clouds

Float on the sky.

To me your eyes

Are a wonder

You are more beautiful

Than the flower I guess.

I have travelled a lot.

I stopped at you.

Don’t refuse. Please call me

At you.

26. THE FANTASY OF ‘AT YOU’

This poem he wrote after returning from home having failed to tell her about his desire. So this was the beginning of his insecurity complex. The idea that his father would retire from job soon and he had to stand on his own feet made him totally insecure in the lonely city. Though his relatives were there in the city, he could not feel homely since they remained busy with their jobs. Only a retired maternal aunty used to call her at her place time and again. He used to argue about the world order with her husband. But whenever he met any new girl, he thought that he was not suitable for her for either she was too beautiful and had a great future or she was from a social background that could not be afforded by him.

27. THE POEM ‘TO YOU’

With a little make up and smile

You looked at me.

Seeing you for a moment

I look for your face

Here and there.

At your gestures and postures

I am mad and crazy.

So, I keep hope and

I scoot to you

Asking for your heart.

At your song and your ego

The dam of my mind gets broken.

Losing track in wild forest,

I scout for your eye balls

Madly.

The flower is your friend.

You are butterfly amazing.

Will you feel angry

If I look at you

A little bit more?

28. THE FANTASY OF ‘TO YOU’

Again he could not see her because of the distance. He wanted to see her face that used to relax her. But there was no other way out to go to her except during the vacation. Even the higher study made him too busy. He started watching movies in cheap theatres. He started visiting his relatives’. But nothing satisfied him. He used to pack his bag six months before any vacation. It was simply unimaginable for any practical human being. But he was that homesick. He was crazy for her. He was anxious for his career. His heart was pounding every second for her.

29. THE SPIT RHYMES

  29.1 The boat of love swings slowly

          On the blue sky.

          My mind has been lost

          To the butterfly.

  29.2  The seven hues are calling

           Tearing the breasts of blue.

           Let my heart be lost

           In the ocean of love.

  29.3  I will come close, I will sit by you

           And I will smile.

           I have become too ardent

           Loving you.

 29.4 For whom I do so many things,

         She does not care.

         Others only show consolation

         That’s not fare.

  29.5 I see in wonder

          How two of your eyes

          Make me purblind.

  29.6 The heart swings inside chest.

          The emotion of love gets spilled

           On the crazy mind.

           Looking at you for a moment

           The flute of mirth is playing

            In silent heartshire.

  29.7 They know we are uncontrollable

           We are dangerous.

            The great lord got vanished

             Because of us.

   29.8 Two of our tiny hearts

            Might be too close.

            Yet, there must be a distance of

             Rustic tune.

 29.9 My dreams float like a cloud

         Inside your eyes.

         They smile with the tune of love.

         The ignorant mind gets lost

          Loving you forever.

 29.10 The shadow of mirth, the warm illusion

            And the colours dreamful

            Hit my heart and makes

            My heart crazy.

 29.11  Time and again, round and round

             The illusion of memory

             Fill my heart and makes me

             Forget all the give-and-takes.

30. THE FANTASY OF ‘SPLIT RHYMES’

This was written again, when he returned home for a vacation in 2003, which means he was in the final year of his Physics Honours course. He saw her again but from a distance. He was now clueless about what to do. So he was writing split rhymes to create an illusion of happiness within himself. At the same time he did not believe in god since first he was a student of Physics and second his father told him there would be no god to save you when you grew old. So it was better to work hard for a safe future. This is the beginning of the illusions that he would keep on creating from now onwards – a futile effort to keep the happiness intact inside by means of illusions that would keep on breaking and getting built up inside the mind time and again.

31. THE POEM ‘EAGER’

In the limit of limitless sky

On the thinking boat of love ocean

Floating with the crazy mind

Let my heart find the love.

Let my heart float away

Anywhere today.

Crazy in happiness,

Warm touch and warm stream,

The cold body is all screwed

After the hug.

Let my heart float away

Anywhere today.

Leaving all the shyness,

Shaking the shape of body,

Let the moony night

Find the warmth again.

Let my heart float away

Anywhere today.

Let it go to hell today.

Let it be lost with a love-tune.

At the limitless horizon

There’s the call of seven notes.

Let my heart float away

Anywhere today.

32. THE FANTASY OF ‘EAGER’

This was a flash back poem, written in 2002. But he posted it on the blog after the ‘Split Rhymes’ that were written in 2003. Now he wanted to have sex with her at night, especially a moony night. He wanted to hug her and feel the fragrance of her body. This was the result of his desire to get fused with her at a moon lit night. This was the manifestation of his pure sexual desire that he would hide from the society. So, yes, the fantasy of the poem was certainly having a holy alfresco sex with her under the moon. He would write this kind of poems time and again whenever he felt the urge.

31. THE POEM ‘ONLY YOU’

Let the night come, if it really wants to fall.

The smile of your red lips will flash in moon light.

The bright eyes are as if the flame of revolution.

Looking at those I’ll tell the words of my heart.

You are there at every nook and corner of my heart.

I just think when I’ll be able to reach your heart.

I beg of you to give me a place at your heart.

Take my love filling your heart fully.

Today a pair of lips told you the words of my heart.

Are your red lips gonna tell everything is futile?

If it happens so, just know that I’m gonna die!

I could not win your heart – that’s the defeat.

32. FANTASY OF ‘ONLY YOU’

This poem was suicidal. He was getting scared sitting far away from home that he would certainly lose her. So he was declaring his defeat.Nothing was more important to him now than her. He was giving a hint of committing suicide. But nobody read the poem. It should have been read  by her. But that was not possible. So he was rolling the life with dwindling hope and amplified doubt. This would make him skeptical about the intentions of girls.  This would result misunderstanding the girls soon. By this time he was studying in a boys’ college. But he was extremely introvert especially about her hidden desire towards girls. He would discuss about world order loudly with his peers. But he would not share his fantasy for girls with anybody. It would reflect only in his poems that nobody till then read.

33. THE POEM ‘I’VE LOVED’

I’ve loved you my dear.

I’ve loved you.

You’ve played me. So

I’ve loved you.

You’ve got the crazy fragrance

Of my disheveled hair.

You’ve slipped upon my

Suave beauty and

Thus you’ve aerated my heart.

You’ve seen my beauty.

You’ve got my soft touch.

With all the madness

Your heart got the mirth.

Whatever I have,

I’ve given you all.

You’ve played me. So

I’ve loved you.

34. THE FANTASY OF ‘I’VE LOVED’

This was an important poem. In his childhood his father made him a member of the local library, where he got introduced to some women writers. He read about feminism. He read about women by women. Now he was recalling them. The colourful teenage made him quite mature about women at a very early stage of life. So he could not be a feminist since he had experienced close contact with girls including his girlfriend before. Except Madhurima he had some other girls as his friends. However, now sitting far away from home, he was trying to understand what Madhurima could feel about him. Thus the poem got created. He wrote on behalf of her. He tried to imagine her feelings. He tried to put himself in her shoe psychologically.

35. THE POEM ‘LOVE MEANS…’

Can "You-are-mine-and-I-am-yours"

Strengthen the love-bond?

Love means all are close

You and I are vagabonds.

36. THE FANTASY OF ‘LOVE MEANS …’

In heart he felt like a vagabond or mendicant. He wanted to travel to unknown lands with her girl friend and meet new people. This is the imagination. But in reality he was travelling alone - sometimes with his friends, sometimes with his relatives, sometimes with his parents; but never with his girl friend -thus the poem.

37. THE POEM ‘THE SPARROW’

A sparrow has just learnt to fly.

She starts her new life by throwing

The chirp of freedom to the blue sky.

One day she goes out to make a new nest.

In the dusk, she gets a shelter inside a hole

Of a big tree bent over a small pond.

When the sky shows its reddish dawn-soul,

She wakes the tree up.

A tiny shiny fish moves up and down there

In the water of the pond; the tree sees and smiles.

As the sparrow joins, today they feel happier.

At the arrival of a new friend they become cheerful.

All are excited and joyful.

The time becomes ruthless suddenly.

The tree that gives flowers and fruits all the time

Is relieved of life untimely.

The pond is filled by soil in no time.

Alas! Where is the tree and where is the fish?

All is buried now in the darkness of time.

The helpless sparrow starts her journey again.

Now she comes to a nearby city. There

In a huge palace inside a small hole

She builds her nest; she cannot get her share

Of left-over food there any more since

The number of beggars keeps increasing.

She cannot tolerate the pain of life there.

She starts flying madly to find a shelter.

She gets irritated by the shrill sound and smoke

Of factories and cars.

At last she gets a permanent shelter.

While flying through the city, she gets hit by a bus.

She sleeps forever on the dust.

She gets fused with this huge earth.

38. THE FANTASY OF ‘THE SPARROW’

By this time he wrote quite a number of poems and read more than that. This poem was a result of his reading poems vividly and the benevolence taught by his father. This had nothing to do with his girl friend. It was a poem that he wrote to practice his writing skill. And this was probably the first poem that he wrote in a prosaic style. That’s it.

39. THE POEM ‘NEW YEAR FROM FAR AWAY’

Remember our tales.

Remember our pains.

Many words of heart and mind

Of the lost hundred days,

In the ray of New Year,

Let’s celebrate again.

With all these now we will talk

Through letters.

40. THE FANTASY OF ‘NEW YEAR FROM FAR AWAY’

This is a poem for Easa, another girl, who was his classmate and now she was staying in Odisha for higher study. They used to send letters to each other. She was a good student. So, he wrote this poem for her.

41. THE POEM ‘GO THE WAY YOU SHOULD’

The eastern sky is calling now.

Keep walking my friends.

Rain or storm,Happy or sad,

The morn or eve -whatever it is -

Let’s go ahead my friends.

Don’t look back even for once.

See the tinge of red.

The scarlet sky is calling you.

The horizon is radiant.

Look ahead my friends.

Even if you find no one now,

Go alone my friend.

In severe pain, with eyes aflame,

Just don’t be upset.

Let’s go ahead my friends.

All the words that are unsaid

Speak out my friends.

All the slogans that ring inside-

Now and then-

Shout out my friends.

Let the hindrance come closer.

Why to be so afraid?

The sound of conch is out there

Amidst the shocking deaths.

Cross each turn with your head

Held high my friends.

42. FANTASY OF ‘GO THE WAY YOU SHOULD’

He was now writing letters to Easa regularly. But he was not in love with her. She was a good friend from his home town. Opposites always attract. So it was kind of that – a good friend of opposite sex. By her letters he was trying to reduce the inner pain that he could not share with anyone. He was fed up with Madhurima since he felt ‘enough is enough’ kind of emotion inside. He was unable to bear the pain anymore. He would feel this emotion afterwards also and this emotion would produce some of the poems later. So he wanted to cheer up himself by writing this poem.

43. THE POEM ‘GO AHEAD’

Losing way in dense forest

Looking at bereft heart

The mind gets burnt.

Leaving the nostalgia

Go ahead towards the light.

The address will be found.

You are not the only one, who lost the way.

There are many talents like you –

You’ll find there ahead.

Let the mountains and rivers come.

Keep going my friend.

The dream will be found.

Don’t be afraid of the unknown.

Keep no hesitation

While going ahead.

On the way in the mud

If you fall and get stuck,

Call the unknown.

Forgetting all the pain

With the light of free mind

Go ahead all of you.

Leaving the nostalgia

Go ahead towards the light.

The address will be found.

44. FANTASY OF ‘GO AHEAD’

He wrote this poem, when he dreamt big. He wanted to face the unknown people and unknown places. That was his father’s lesson. His father told him to prepare for struggle. His father told him that life is a struggle. If he does not study well, he won’t be able to travel places. So listening to his father’s words, he wrote this poem. All you needed a pen and paper to dream big. So this poem was a dream that he saw from his study through the window towards the culvert where the pretty girl used to come and sit.

45. THE PHONE CALL

After a few days when he was feeling tired of writing, Stella phoned him in a morning. She said,

-        Good evening!

-        Good Morning!

-        How do you do?

-        I’m fine, just a bit tired of writing.

-        I know that’s quite natural.

-        Yes.

-        Can you do one thing?

-        What?

-        Mail me whatever you have written so far.

-        Okay.

-        Actually I am really eager to see what you have done. It must be interesting.

-        I don’t know.

-        Okay fine. Just send me the write-up and take rest for some days. I’ll text you my email id.

-        Okay.

-        Take care. Bye bye.

-        You too. Bye.

After a few seconds of the conversation, Stella texted her email id. And he forwarded a soft copy to her. Then he phoned his parents since it was the time of pandemic and lockdown. Then he prepared his breakfast and had coffee with it. He did some office works from home. In the evening he went for a stroll in the park. He phoned his friends. Then at night he slept after talking to his parents over phone. Next morning Stella phoned him again,

-        Good evening.

-        Good Morning.

-        I read your draft.

-        Really!

-        Yes.

-        How is it?

-        Pretty unique and unconventional.

-        Thanks!

-        But you skipped some poems written in 2001 I guess.

-        Yes, it’s not complete yet. Some of the poems have similar fantasies…

-        No no! I want to know all the fantasies. Don’t skip any single poem.

-        Okay, I’ll do something about it.

-        Yes please. Did you have your breakfast?

-        No.

-        What are you gonna have?

-        Butter toasts, coffee, orange and banana.

-        You should take eggs also.

-        Yes usually I take that. But I am scared for the situation of lockdown. So we have become a little bit of economical now.

-        Okay.

-        Who were there in your family?

-        My parents and my sister.

-        Did she get married?

-        Yes.

-        Okay. Where do they stay?

-        They stay in Kolkata. I mean Calcutta according to British pronunciation.

-        Yes, I know. And where do you stay?

-        I stay in Chandigarh.

-        Okay. That’s nice.

-        Won’t you ask how big the apartment is or what is the cost of bearing me as a producer?

-        (Smile) No, I am not that kind of a lady! My purpose of asking you these questions was just to make you feel relaxed. I know what you deserve. These queries have nothing to do with our deal.

-        Okay.

-        Now listen to me carefully.

-        Okay.

-        You keep writing. After the lockdown my manager will come to India to sign a contract with you.

-        Yes that’s better since I do a job.

-        Yes and if you need more money, just write to me.

-        I don’t write for money.

-        I know dear. But money is necessary. Keep it up. Goodbye!

-        Goodbye.

She cut the phone. He went to prepare breakfast. But his brain became active again. He was thinking about how to incorporate the skipped poems in the draft.

-        ary. Keep it up. Goodbye!

-        Goodbye.

She cut the phone. He went to prepare breakfast. But his brain became active again. He was thinking about how to incorporate the skipped poems in the draft.

46. DOWN THE MEMORY LANE

Summer was knocking at the door. Here in Chandigarh the summer is always horrible. It reaches at least 46 degree Celsius every year. It makes everyone suffer a lot every year. However, till now the weather was okay.  So he was scared about the summer. Yet, he woke up in the morning. The sun ray was coming through his window. It was no longer pleasant and it had started to show its might slowly. So far the sun was enjoyable. He used to slide the curtain to open his window every morning. But he could not do it anymore. Now it had started to become hotter. This year he would definitely buy an air conditioner. But he had a doubt about what would happen post lockdown. He might get a better job with a better package. In that case all these gadgets like washing machine, geyser, air conditioner, television would be a burden. So till now he was living with minimum gadgets. However, the warm sun was rising behind the buildings hinting a dry followed by a sultry summer. And he was having a cup of tea. After writing a chapter he would prepare his breakfast. After spending a whole day for thinking about an idea about how to include the previous poems he could not get anything new. So he decided to stick to the grammar of cinema. A cut away would be a nice choice he thought. ‘So let’s cut away down the memory lane’, he thought. The name of the next poem was ‘During the Pujo’. Pujo was a huge festival in Bengal. And everyone liked this festival. So he would also enjoy the festival. Every year during this time he would get excited to mingle with people and have fun. Everybody did that. Precisely no body participated in this festival as a religious being. He participated in all the festivals like Pujo, Eid, Muharram, Christmas etc. But he never followed any rituals but eating since he was not encouraged by his father to do so. His father never told him not to go to the festivals. But he said that every progressive idea helped toward a better world. So he was too innocent to understand the propaganda behind these festivals. Now he knew it while writing this draft. He would translate the poems related to festivals. But it had nothing to do with religions, especially the organised propagandist divisive ones. He was taught to celebrate festivals but not the rituals that would culminate to division of humanity and civil war. That’s never accepted. Now he felt that all festivals could be there without the propaganda behind it. That had to be removed at any cost. He liked humanity, festivals, celebrations, parties. He would go to anywhere to attend any festivals. But he would not follow the rituals that were connected to propaganda and controlled by a particular religion. In fact he felt that people should have worked together to remove the religions from the festivals. Then everything would have been alright.

47. THE POEM ‘DURING THE PUJO’

I will be here during this festival.

I will be nearby.

I will see how much you can dress up.

I will see how much you can smile.

I will see who looks better -

The goddess or you.

May be I said something too much.

Forgive me, forgive me dear!

If you cannot do it,

You rather be angry.

I will see you from a distance.

I will see how you look.

The light of moon beam on pink face –

That’s also not so bad.

48. FANTASY OF ‘DURING THE PUJO’

He was studying in a high school and the festival was coming. He was excited to see his girl friend in new attire. He wanted to see her from a distance since he could not propose her till now. He was afraid of her. He always thought what would be her reaction – positive or negative – in case he proposed her. He was not prepared to take no for an answer. And he was scared of his father. So he always thought twice before committing any nuisance. So he wrote this poem as if he was prodding her with words on the culvert where they met almost every day.

49. THE POEM ‘TOMORROW’

Through every vein of mine

Sending the warm flowing addiction,

You are living happily.

You thought I’d get addicted

And stay dizzy as always.

Probably I am like that today.

But did you think that forever

I’d stay like this?

You did a blunder if you had thought so.

The poison that you injected into me

Is eating up me now slowly.

It has burnt and provoked me

Like an angry tigress.

Today I am excited.

I am clad with the fire of revenge.

You thought you would sleep quiet

In the light of falling afternoon.

And you would stay happily.

I’ll not allow that.

In the high summer

On the dry desert

On  the great pyre

Slowly I’ll burn you

Bit by bit.

With poison I’ll burn your body.

Then I’ll throw your body

On the burning chest of hot sun.

The hunger of the history

Will be satiated then.

50. FANTASY OF ‘TOMORROW’

This poem was the result of many things. He was studying in class eleven. In the morning with his father he used to hear German Bengali, Chinese Bengali and British Bengali radio news. And he used to discuss those with his father and friends. Then he used to play with his girl friend. Since then he was worried about the downtrodden people of the world. By this time he read Hegel, Feuerbach, and thus Marx. He read an English version of Das Kapital. As a result he conceived of the future world. This poem was about a revenge that symbolised a world after revolution or any other radical change.

51. THE POEM ‘FOR LOOKING AT HER AT ONCE THE FIRE OF LOVE’S BEEN KINDLED AT THE HEART’

Why did you look at me

That way for a moment?

Crazy is my heart dear

And I’ve become mad for you.

I’m mad, I’m eager.

The heart is having a storm.

Where’ve you been lost dear?

Take me back at your heart

I can’t bear it anymore.

For the soft touch of your eyes

I’ve lost my whole memory

But your presence there.

With the touch of your red lips

At your soft naked eyes

I’ve surrendered my heart.

I’ve surrendered to you.

I’m mad for you.

So I rush to you.

Just sit by me and I’ll tell

That I love you.

52. FANTASY OF ‘FOR LOOKING AT HER AT ONCE THE FIRE OF LOVE’S BEEN KINDLED AT THE HEART’

This was again the desire to be closer to her. He was looking at her every day. Now he wanted to kiss her openly at the place where they used to meet every day. Closer and closer he wanted to come.  But it was not possible at a conservative society for a young boy of reputation. On one hand the desire, on another hand the society. Kissing openly in public was considered vulgar in India. But that was exactly what he wanted to do. Just a kiss under the afternoon sun and everything would have been solved.

53. THE POEM ‘OUR TALE’

The conspiracy of pain -

All the consolations are false.

We’ve heard enough theory

About life.

We’ve seen a lot of pain.

We’ve seen people dying.

They’re fighting against hunger.

Yet, the heart is full of hope.

So many scars at the heart

We’ve kept intact like gun powder;

When it is kindled,

The horizon will be burnt.

But the sun will rise again.

Don’t give up my friend!

Hold the tether tight.

The sun is hot and blooming.

53. FANTASY OF ‘OUR TALE’

This was the real story of them, which means the boy friends. They did not like to study. They did not want to hear any sophisticated theory about life. They were hopeless. They were impulse driven. They wanted ready-made solution about their future and career. So they were giving a damn to the establishment. They were watching pornography. They were shouting aloud at the adda. They were dismissing all the theories. They had become complete cynics. But he ended the poem with a hope as he always did. Again he even did not show this poem to his friends. He was so possessive about his poems. At that age he did not know the reason. Now he realised that he was introvert about his poems since the origin of it was mainly his girl friend. He grabbed his poems so tight as if they were his girl friend.

54. THE POEM ‘THE RACE OF BRAWLERS’

A shabby cottage with thousands of holes on the roof,

Everything inside is visible with a little effort,

It’s more if it’s called a house, it’s even more, if it’s called a cottage –

Just like a house of cards or a brittle bottle.

It’s monsoon. So it’s going to fall soon.

After that there will only be sky over the head.

No income - without food they spend the days.

They have nothing, but the naked child has clay at least.

With the clay he builds up mountains and cuts the river before

Along with the memory of grass flower that he saw somewhere

In the imagination his tiny mountain is much bigger.

Beneath the mountain there are many boulders.

His mother sat to cut the stones on the lap of barren mountain.

He is playing with the thin grasses with full concentration.

He is smiling at her mother. The mother is smiling at him.

Suddenly someone cries aloud, and the smile is gone.

The mother’s eyes are wet and blood trickles from her hand.

The little child without getting it starts to cry aloud.

Unmindfully her hand got thrashed by the hammer.

The fancy traveller gets irritated and calls her the race of brawlers.  

55. FANTASY OF ‘THE RACE OF BRAWLERS’

This was poem completely driven by his altruist philosophy. By reading philanthropic philosophies he discovered his hidden sympathy for the downtrodden class. And he used to visit mountainous Bhutan often for picnic or travelling. There he saw these workers cutting the rocks. So he fantasised this poem.

56. THE POEM ‘LOVE’

Catkins get a swing.

The flower Shefali wakes.

Unknown jungle birds

Are chirping here and there.

The Sun uncle opens the eyes.

The tiny grass flower gets a swing.

On your pink face the soft sun –

The heart flies here and there.

On the sweet day with the happy song

Let the door of my heart open.

From my tiny heart

I give you a gift.

57. FANTASY OF ‘LOVE’

He wanted to gift her something. But his father was strict about money and flexible about creativity. So he did not have money to purchase a gift for her. He was also feeling shy to tell her about love. So with all these emotions, he wrote this poem for her. All he could give was love and poems. He did not tell her about the poem again. But he wanted to go to her and gift something really rare. But he was not sure whether the poem was rare or cheap.

58. THE POEM ‘LOVE YOU’

For you

I’m mad.

So, I’m looking for you.

With care

I’ve put you there

Inside my heart.

Dishevelled appearance –

In the juice of youth

You are wet dear.

If I get you

I’ll give up

All the shame I have.

When I’ll meet

You there

At the love night,

You will see

How happy

It’ll be.

I’ll sit by you

I’ll come to you.

Love flute will play.

Touching your heart

My love

I’ll tell you

I love you.

59. FANTASY OF ‘LOVE YOU’

He wanted to meet her at a special night without being ashamed. It means he wanted to be free with her. He wanted to meet her in a quiet night with a special ambience. And yes there was a hint of sex. But it was not only sex but also the ambience.

60. THE POEM ‘LOVING YOU’

Loving the mankind

I’ve known the earth.

Loving the blood

I’ve known the struggle.

Loving the sweat

I’ve known the sorrow.

Loving you

I’ve known myself.

61. FANTASY OF ‘LOVING YOU’

This was a philosophical poem. He wanted to say if she was not there he could not explore his inner soul. If she was not there he could not experience the emotions that were hidden inside him. The mankind, the earth, the blood, the struggle, the sweat and the sorrow could be experienced everywhere. But knowing the ego was not so easy. Because of her he could discover his ego. And with that ego he would travel different places keeping her memory within.

62. THE POEM ‘THE OLD’

That playground of run-from-circle and the rows of mango trees

Have got lost one by one and filled with the concrete jungle.

So many known faces and lines of known smiles Have got lost and I’m alone there from horizon to horizon.

The close friends got lost and the far got closer.

Quarrelling with the far, I’ve gone to new land.

Wherever I’ve gone to get happiness of mind,

I’ve got shocked seeing thousands of hungry stomachs.

Walking a long distance, I’ve stopped by you.

But still I doubt whether Madhurima is there on my way.

63. FANTASY OF ‘THE OLD’

This was a very interesting poem. Till now he had not left home town. But he was always interested in reading books outside the syllabus. So slowly he developed a philosopher inside him. That philosopher was writing this poem. This was a prediction made by the philosopher within with a slight hint of skepticism. He was being a realist that when he would leave home, he was going to encounter a reality that was not going to be all sweet at all. So he was ending the poem with his girl friend’s name that symbolises his skeptisism about achieving her. He was not so sure about his future be it the marriage nor be it the career. From this poem onwards his subconscious would be dictated by his wisdom that he achieved by reading and hearing and the reality that he would experience every day.

64. THE POEM ‘THE SOUND OF THUNDER’

The thunder roars and I hear it with my ears

            The thunder pen cuts the lines

On the chest of sky.         The scared people

                        Shut the door.

The suave moon’s     and       The free night’s

                        Heart losing light

Gets destroyed                       In a moment

                        By the raging storm.

In the stormy wind         The traveller in the end

                    Loses his path.

One step ahead                 Two steps back

               The lightning in the dark.

On the river water             There will be soon

                      The raging waves.

On the sky                       With dishevelled hair

   Which beautiful lady shows it wrong!

By the angry look           of the disheveled hair.

                The heart is pounding hard.

When you will look         On the opposite side

                          Of the dark hair.

You will know that           You love only this

                               Lady.

65. FANTASY OF ‘THE SOUND OF THUNDER’

This was a poem about a rainy night influenced by his girl friend. He was sitting in his study. It was load-shedding. So there was no light. Only a hurricane light was lit. The sky was clad with dark clouds. Lightning was happening. And thus he compared the nature around with her girl friend.

66. THE POEM ‘SEEING AT ONCE’

The red long scarf is flying in the air

With the red rose.

Into the shy eyes of the princess

The heart’s got stuck.

The beggar eyes do not shift

From the immaculate beauty.

Seeing her at once

The heart is filled with mirth.

On her shiny moony face

The sap of beauty falls.

I wish I look at her

For a thousand years.

67. FANTASY OF ‘SEEING AT ONCE’

This poem is again out of the eagerness of seeing her. He missed her. He was preparing for his final board examination. After the examination, he would prepare for higher study. And after getting the result, he would go to Kolkata. And the fear of distance and the desire of seeing her continuously produced this poem.

68. THE POEM ‘THE LOST YOUTH’

In the new fun of new monsoon,

In the new dawn with the smell of shefali,

In the new hue of the new sun,

In the colour of rose petals and

In the happy nature’s craziness,

I’ve seen you with my full heart.

On the tribal girl’s limbs and body,

With flowery ornaments,

In the suave manifestation of moon beam and

In the cool wind of dense forest

I’ve seen you with my full heart.

Keeping the eye on that of a doe,

At the shy golden face,

When the deer looks with

Full concentration,

In the flood of its hearty passion

I’ve seen you with my full heart.

Beneath the starry sky,

Sitting with you in privacy,

With the touch of your uncrowded hand,

With the touch of your uncrowded hand,

I’ve forgotten everything.

Even then I’ve seen you in the

Suave manifestation of moon beam.

Today I don’t see you anywhere,

Afraid and scared, have you left

This earth dear? Probably

On the chest of a faraway star

Immobile is your sight.

That’s why I no longer forget everything.

That’s why the immobile sight of yours from

A faraway star makes me think

Time and again.

69. FANTASY OF ‘THE LOST YOUTH’

A very close uncle of the colony gifted him a book of Jibanananda, a famous poet of Bengal, on his birthday. His poems were ornamental with details. He started reading those poems. That was his first introduction with this Master post-Tagore poet. So in his heart he was always scared of losing her girl friend one fine morning. This emotion got fused with the style of Jibanananda. But he was also aware of the fact that he did not even know the details of Bengal as this Master poet did. So his inferiority complex grew inside and he did not show it to anybody since he felt it was not as great as the Master poet’s creations.

70. THE POEM ‘WISH’

Wish

With the force of a kick,

Tearing all the tethers,

In the land of hues,

With a crazy mind,

Through the dust,

Flying and flying,

Losing way and finding way,

With the smell

Along the heart,

Wish with you

I get lost in

The land of love.

71. FANTASY OF ‘WISH’

He wanted to experiment with the poetic styles now. He thought of a poem that was a one liner. He was still preparing for his final board examination and he was experiencing the burden of study. So he wanted to run away with his girl friend. This emotion and the pressure of study produced this experimental poem.

72. THE POEM ‘YOUTH’

A little joy, a little pain,

A few coloured words,

Joy, sorrow, weep, smile –

With all these we love.

Hard again simple and easy,

Sweet, salty, a bit poison,

A bit white, a bit black,

Dirty, grey or good,

Amid all there’s the light of hope.

We are bad, we are good.

73. FANTASY OF ‘YOUTH’

This was again a poem about his friends collectively. He was young and his friends were also young. His girl friend was young too. And he loved all of them. So he was writing a poem about their youth that was going through different experiences and incidents in their lives. It was colourful indeed!

74. THE POEM ‘WHO KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED’

Today the moon looks good.

The grass flower calls me closer.

Hearing the chirps of jungle bird,

My heart becomes jolly.

Who knows what happened!

Joy pours into my heart.

Amid the joy with the love song

The heart plays the rustic tune.

In the forest’s creepers and trees’ leaves

It wakes up with the chirps of birds.

In soft sun on the love ocean

My heart gets lost.

Wish I exceed everything

Destroying everything -

Breaking the shackle

Wish I get lost in the mirth.

Across the sky and air

The fragrance of love makes it crazy.

Wherever I look it’s all joy.

I’m mad for you.

Under the moon beam in the suave evening

Amid this limitless joy

Everything looks good.

Who knows what happened today!

75. FANTASY OF ‘WHO KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED’

This was a simple poem about happiness. It happened often when he got excited about the nature, peers and girlfriend. And when he felt less pressure he used to feel like this. In fact the time of the poem was very important. It was a flashback poem written in 2000 a year before the previous poems. The date was important since in 2000 he was in class eleven. So the pressure of study was less as the board examination would happen in 2001. So this year was the playtime for him. He was enjoying everything around. A little bit of study, a little bit of football, and a little bit of meaningless gossiping with girl friend – and everything became wonderful.

76. THE POEM ‘RUSTIC LOVE’

Every morning a boy and a girl

Used to make mountains and play together.

The boy used to draw with fingers on the earth.

The girl used to say, ‘I don’t understand what you do!’

The boy used to say, ‘There’s no meaning I just love to draw!

Please bring the water and let’s build a fancy hill again.’

When the girl used to make garland of shefali,

The boy inserted one of them into her hair.

The girl used to rush to her mother to show it.

The mother used say, ‘You are looking really nice today!’

Then and there she used to run to the boy and say

‘Please insert another into my hair.’

Her hand was clayed and the heart was full of fragrance of flower!

This way they love each other.

If you wish to call it love, call it so or not.

The simple clay hill was much bigger in the imagination.

The barren mountain was green in the imagination.

There was a narrow stream, where pearls were flowing.

How did it matter that the stream was small and narrow?

It made the unwilling boulders move.

This way when the girl used to think sitting there,

The boy used to ask, ‘Please tell me what you were thinking so tight.’

The girl used to say, ‘There’s no meaning I just love to imagine.

Let’s bring the water and build a new mountain again.’

New mountain, new soil, new imagination –

This way they love each other.

77. FANTACY OF ‘RUSTIC LOVE’

His home town was surrounded by villages and rustic lives. If the sky was clear the third highest peak Kanchanjangha was easily visible from the north end of the town. Now he was reading literature vividly. He was playing with his girlfriend and thus he had his imagination. So, he imagined a rustic love and put it in words.

78. THE POEM ‘SWEET SMILE’

How sweetly you smiled

Looking at me –

I felt relaxed O my

Darling of dreamland.

Into my mind you have

Inserted the touch of beauty.

Over the suave soft smile

The heart is flying.

Looking at the red smile

Of moony face,

My whole day got spent

Thinking about you.

Floating with your

Blood smeared wet lips,

I don’t know when

I fell in love with you.

79. FANTASY OF ‘SWEET SMILE’

He was seeing her girlfriend almost every day. He loves to look at her. They talk about many things –sense and nonsense. This poem revealed his desire to see her smile time and again. He used to imagine her face at night before going to sleep. Her face was a remedy for his concentration. Thus he had a fetish for her smile. Her face and her smile used to increase his attentiveness.

80. THE POEM ‘HAPPY NEW YEAR’

New year, new light, new new hopes,

Split smiles, split words, split love.

In the fragrance of new flower the heart is unmindful.

For the new fun of new year the courtyard of heart floats across.

When the butterfly asks the flower, ‘Could you give me a little bit of honey?’

The flower says, ‘You can take as much as you want.

Let the New Year be happy. Then I’ll be happy too.’

The mankind appears to be really trivial then.

Did they ever have such a big heart?

In the New Year you and I put on new dresses.

Where is the New Year of the beggar kept?

You and I have a new year and thus the new hope.

Did he have no hope except frustration?

We do have fun, but please look after them too.

The downtrodden class needs a bit of help too.

Only then the New Year with the new hope

Will travel along happy tear of our heart.

81. FANTASY OF ‘HAPPY NEW YEAR’

It was said before that he started reading philanthropic philosophies at a much younger age. And he had the charm of her girlfriend that influenced her to write so many poems. This was the last poem of his ‘First Diary’ according to the blog. There were many other lost poems that he could not upload in the blog or discarded. But this poem was produced by the mixture of philanthropic philosophy and the charisma of her girlfriend. So his soul had now been taken over by philosophies along with the presence of his girlfriend.

82. THE MAIL

Now he felt a bit relaxed since he finished working across the poems of his ‘First Diary’. Now it was time to inform Stella about the progress. He also needed a bit rest. He had a small blister at his ankle. He had not been wearing shoes since the lockdown begun. But he started evening walk at the park.  Summer was coming soon. Amid all these he wrote a mail to Stella,

“Dear Stella

   I have finished working on the poems of my ‘First Diary’. Please have a look at the attached file and reply soon.

Thanking you

Ray”

Thus he attached the draft with the mail and clicked on the send button and sent it to her email address. Then he got up from the chair. He went to the bathroom and took a bath for at least half an hour. Then he had lunch and lay on the bed. He could not usually sleep during the day time. He also had problems regarding sleep at night. Slowly he was getting rid of insomnia. These days he was sleeping well at night with a light dose of sleeping pills. He was feeling better now since he finished at least a chapter of the draft. So he was happy. But he did not know what to do. He knew Stella would call back after reading the draft. So he was waiting for her call.

83. THE GREY DIARY

He was now waking up late. In the evening he was strolling in the park. He was doing a bit of office work. This way a few days passed. He was now browsing through his blog. He was studying a bit for a distant learning course that he was doing from a university of Hisar. But he was not being able to concentrate properly. He was a very bad multi-tasker. Slowly he was learning multi-tasking these days. At last Stella phoned him,

-        Good Evening.

-        Good Morning.

-        How do you do?

-        Fine. I was waiting for your call.

-        I know.

-        Have you read it?

-        Yes.

-        What do you think about it?

-        I loved it. But I have a few questions.

-        Yes tell me.

-        What do you mean by ‘cut away’?

-        It’s nothing but inserting something from a different time and place within the narrative.

-        Okay. It’s complicated. I know only about cutaway collars (smile).

-        What’s that?

-        It’s the collar of a formal shirt.

-        Okay. That’s interesting.

-        Yes. I think I have understood the ‘flashback’ only.

-        Yes, it’s like going back to past.

-        Yes.

-        Did you enjoy reading the draft?

-        Yes, absolutely.

-        That’s enough for now.

-        Okay. Are you tired of writing?

-        Yes a bit.

-        Take rest then.

-        I was thinking about my ‘Grey Diary’ now.

-        The second diary?

-        Yes.

-        Okay. Keep thinking.

-        I am facing a problem.

-        What’s that?

-        I have categorised some of the poems from my diaries in different sections while uploading on my blog.

-        Don’t worry; I have gone through your blog. Stick to it and use the cinematic tools as you did before. I love your blog.

-        Thanks.

-        What’s the situation in India now?

-        Pretty bad. Lockdown till 3rd May.

-        Okay. Do you have a printer?

-        I have it in Kolkata. But not here.

-        Okay. Don’t worry. We’ll sign the contract soon.

-        Okay.

-        Do you need more money?

-        No. But I don’t know the exact market value of my work.

-        Leave it to me. I know it and I won’t cheat you.

-        Okay. Thanks.

-        And I think you know that market economy is crashing everywhere.

-        Yes I wrote it in my last book.

-        Exactly.

-        So everything will be redesigned now.

-        Yes, true.

-        So don’t worry about the economy. Take rest, think and when you feel like writing, do it.

-   ��    Okay.

-        Just stick to your blog. And tell me if you need more money.

-        Okay. I have another question.

-        Tell me.

-        As a reader are you feeling bored of the format?

-        As in?

-        Like ‘the poem and the fantasy’ format. Is it not getting repetitive?

-        Absolutely not.

-        As a young woman, I am really interested in the fantasy.

-        Okay.

-        I told you before that I’m interested in male psychology. You are writing exactly what I want to know.

-        Okay.

-        I’m not forcing you. If you have something new in mind, you can incorporate that. But I do want to know about the fantasies behind your poems.

-        Okay. That sounds nice.

-        Yes, keep it up.

-        Another question?

-        Yes tell me.

-        Don’t you want to know about the girl?

-        No. I want to read it in your draft.

-        Yes, that’s the way it should be.

-        Exactly. Any more questions?

-        No, I got the point.

-        Yes, now do it the way you want to do it.

-        Yes, I need some time.

-        Nobody is forcing you. Just keep it up.

-        Okay. But…

-        But what? Tell me don’t hesitate.

-        The second diary…

-        Yes the ‘Grey Diary’…

-        Yes, that’s mainly about frustration.

-        Yes I guessed that. So…

-        So I was thinking whether it’ll be fine to depict it as it is or there should be some extra flavour to spice it up.

-        (Excited) No no no, don’t just spice it up. I told you it has to be pure.

-        Okay, okay. I got the point. I’ll write it as it is.

-        Yes. That’s better.

-        Okay, thanks a lot!

-        I’ll call you soon.

-        Okay.

-        Bye.

-        Bye.

84. THE POEM ‘IRE’

Fearing the death, the naked life lives cowardly.

The time whips hard on bare body.

The poems become lost with no value for it.

In the heart there remains cowardly ire.

The protest gets lost in the labyrinth of power.

As shadows demand, the life is climbing up the ladder.

At the day-end weary mind closes eyes in fear.

The greed of seeing light in dark dream is there.

Sound after sound make a riddle to be inert.

The silent lamentation of incomplete poem

Encroaches the unknown chamber of heart -

The ire of failed spark in soaked gunpowder.

85. FANTASY OF ‘IRE’

When he was writing this poem, he spent almost two years in the campus of his film school. He was a studious hardworking student. He attended almost all the classes regularly. He completed the projects successfully so far. But he was uncertain about his future. He was continuously hearing about the struggle of upcoming future. He was a guy, who wanted peace and happiness. But Indian economy was slowly moving toward privatisation as a result of the fall of Soviet Union.  His teachers were silent about it. As a film school student he started reading Eisenstein, Ken Dancyger etc. He was becoming trained in tasty and good cinema. But Indian Film Industry was highly driven by bad hybrid low cinema. That made him frustrated. He wanted to protest against everything. But he felt helpless since he could only write a poem with a pen and paper. Cinema cost patronisation.  Neither he was from a rich family nor he found any opportunity of sponsorship. Thus he imagined the ire of failed spark in soaked gunpowder.

86. THE POEM ‘SMELL OF THE FLOWER, BOKUL’

I know you think

My greed is there for your eyes.

You think that my five senses want to touch you.

I don’t disagree.

You wriggle back often.

Yet, both of us rush to each other

And come back too

With invisible alibi.

This way many years were spent.

Today suddenly it is raining.

The babbling sound of Ichhamoti

Fills the heart.

Believe me after almost years

The memory of your essence

Has covered me completely.

The smell of a treeful bokul flowers in the river water.

87. FANTASY OF ‘SMELL OF THE FLOWER, BOKUL’

      Amid the frustration about future career, he was surviving with the memory of his girlfriend. He was busy with study. He was writing for a little magazine. But whenever he was alone, he reminisced about his girlfriend. She was going away from his life. But his heart was not being able to forget it. On one hand his dream that was continuously being challenged by the establishment. On the other hand his fantasies about his girlfriend. He actually became busy with life and tried to forget her. But his memory, his heart and his brain were continuously telling him about her. This was making him homesick very often. But he was struggling hard to get out of this. After a spell of busy life, one fine morning she returned to his memory in a rainy day. Ichhamoti is the name of a river that is there at his mother’s ancestral place, Basirhat. So far he visited the place several times. So he recalled that. He also recalled the evergreen Bokul tree that was there at his hometown opposite to the gate of his high school. He was thinking about all these things randomly and becoming homesick.

88. THE POEM ‘TWO OF US’

Two of us stare

At each other.

Yet we are scared;

What if something happens?

89. FANTASY OF ‘TWO OF US’

      Again he was recalling his heydays of the past. Now he was getting more mature. And he had watched many movies so far. He had been reading a lot. So he was recollecting the memory of how they stared at each other and if they met again, probably sex could happen.

90. THE POEM ‘TWO OF US’

That day both of us stared at each other.

Both of us wanted to get close to each other,

But somewhere the desire faced obstruction.

I had greed in my eyes.

Probably your eyes had it too.

Yet there was the desire to get close.

You flew with your showy wings.

I flew with my dreams.

We could not get close to each other.

91. FANTASY OF ‘TWO OF US’

     This poem was the extension of the previous poem. Both the poems were written on the same day. Now he was trying to get rid of his sexual desire. He was writing about a tentative real conclusion of their love that originated in a small town and did not get ripe because of the society especially the old people, who tried to impose their dreams and ideas on to the younger generation. Their orientation was different. Except his father and teachers, all the old people of the town were screwed with the idea of running after money. Thus she would probably get married to a dumb mediocre merchant in the near future.

92. THE POEM ‘FROM THE GARRET’

From the garret, I saw the city.

Suddenly a drop of water flew in.

Cloudy sky,

Cool wind.

Hug my body tight. It felt good.

Wish to get wet.

Yet I can’t.

From the garret I saw standing

Wet road, wet cars.

93. FANTASY OF ‘FROM THE GARRET’

     The girls would come to him indeed. This poem had nothing to do with his girlfriend. The times were changing. He met a girl Sumana, who left the film school since she was shocked by the ragging. She used to invite him often to their rented house in North Kolkata. He used to phone her too. Now he forgot all the conversations with her. All he could remember that she mentioned about rain and garret once. Again he put him in her shoes and wrote this poem for her.

94. THE POEM ‘NO FIRE ANYMORE’

Why do you come time and again?

I  acquired the skill

Of dreaming alone.

I fell in love  with the grey life and

The eye of the bird.

No fire anymore,

Only there are smoke and ash.

Cloudy sky,

Cloudy river water,

On the grey canvas the black birds –

Flowers fall down,

The lone bald tree,

Monotonous sorrow in the heart.

Yet, it’s raining again.

Why do you come time and again

With wetness?

I recall the childhood, I feel overwhelmed

To get wet soon.

Yet, no fire anymore,

Only there are smoke and ash.

95. FANTASY OF ‘NO FIRE ANYMORE’

      Now he became busy with life. But the beauty of nature was making him romantic. He was trying to get rid of his feelings. But he was not being able to do so since he started to meet new girls in his life. And in every girl, he was now finding love. Living away from home, he was looking for his girl friend in every girl. That was the beginning of a new journey. He would keep looking for a girl, who could inspire him in writing poems.

96. THE POEM ‘ROTTEN CORPSE’

I’ve lost my way in the middle of the sea.

My boat is directionless.

The sun sets in the west.

The darkness of fear, depression, anarchy

Becomes denser slowly.

The storm rages on.

I’m the lone boatman in the middle of the sea.

The throat becomes dry.

The salty water hits the eyes.

The eyes get burnt.

In the dark I sit grasping the oar.

Yet in the end it is not saved.

Everything turns upside down.

The deadly effort to float –

Yet, it goes down slowly.

In the land of pearls and jewels,

There lies the rotten corpse.

98. FANTASY OF ‘ROTTEN CORPSE’

   This was his state of mind in the same year. He was doing everything to get settled down properly in near future. He accepted the fact that he had lost his girlfriend. So he was hopeless now. He was trying hard to survive. He was studying in one of the only two national film institutes of the country. But he could see no future. He was utterly frustrated. So he compared himself with the rotten corpse. The film school was happening. But he did not have money in his pocket. He was surviving with a little bit of money that his father was sending to him every month. But that was not the real crisis. He never wanted money since he thought that he would get a better living by pursuing his passion. But he was seeing no way out. And the capitalist world did not believe in creativity, sympathy or kindness. It was hard to sell the passion. In fact it was a matter of debate about where and how to sell the passion since that was what the market economy all about. So he was clueless about his future. But it did not stop him from creating art. He started writing the novel ‘Orange’ among all these. But his heart was going through ups and downs. He had a dream to make a cinema out of ‘Orange’. But he did not know how. After finishing the draft of Orange, he would mail it to some studios in Hollywood and the draft would get leaked soon. After a few years he would find that the concept of the great banyan tree was stolen as home tree in a movie by a famous award winning director. And Orange would change the world soon. But he would not get anything out of his creativity. His frustration would continue.

99. THE POEM ‘LET IT BE HAPPY’

Let the butterfly take bath in the dew drop of dawn.

Let the smell of shefali flower be smeared with her.

It does not matter if I can touch it or not.

Let the earth be happy.

100. FANTASY OF ‘LET IT BE HAPPY’

    This poem was about his sacrifice. He wanted to touch her girlfriend. But she was staying far away now. He was not sure whether he would be able to touch her again or not. So he was being realistic and happy about life.

101. THE POEM ‘THE FAMILY MAN’

These days I don’t feel angry or happy.

I don’t feel repentant or arrogant.

All the emotions remain immobile inside.

I commute to office and go for shopping.

I act along the whole day

Not because I’m in distress or sorrow.

This has become my habit.

The sigh has become my habit.

To lose has become my habit.

To be weary has become my habit.

And also not seeing after seeing it has become my habit.

Sometimes I feel how about breaking the habit.

Thinking that it was not a bad idea

I go to Darjeeling.

Something more?

I don’t think it’s possible in this life.

102. FANTASY OF ‘THE FAMILY MAN’

    This was again a poem he was writing on behalf of others. He saw the daily lives of his teachers. He saw the daily life of his cousin brother, who was a brilliant student but he did not leave Kolkata as he fell in love with the city. These people neither ran after money nor got involved in any kind of out of the box idea. He saw the clerks in his film school. They were also same. They were family lover. Though they were very much aware of the politics and world order, they chose a peaceful family life in the city of Kolkata. So he was putting himself in their shoes to hone his skill of poetry writing.

103. THE POEM ‘THE EYES’

He loves the two eyes like a fool.

He loves them ignoring all the thoughts.

One day he thinks that

He will go closer.

Then he will stare, for a long time,

At those eyes.

But he has no spare time.

So the wait begins.

But he cannot go closer.

The sight gets blurred in the dust of history.

The smell of heated stone in hoofs of horses,

The smell of rotten corpse,

Surpassing all these there appears the fragrant perfume.

Yet, he cannot go close.

The sight gets blurred.

The mind becomes eager.

The smoke becomes denser.

The blood becomes hot.

The eyes disappear slowly.

He scouts like a fool.

The perfume becomes harsher.

He becomes calm.

The eyes disappear gradually.

He becomes calm.

104. FANTASY OF ‘THE EYES’

      Again the pain for her girlfriend returns. He wanted to say that among all he was still looking for those eyes. He was recalling the medieval history that he read in his school life. But nowhere could he find them. He was frustrated and slowly accepting the fact that he had to lose her. So he was pacifying himself by writing this abstract surreal dreamy poem.

105. THE POEM ‘TIME OF LOVE’

Keeping the expectation of love

In the heart,

It surrenders everything to the security.

The craziness of power play

Has to be seen with wide awake eyes.

The time of love is only there

Within the dream.

106. FANTASY OF ‘TIME OF LOVE’

     He was busy doing the course at his film school. He was unlike other students, who took things casually. He took every lesson so seriously that he had no spare time at all. Meanwhile he was noticing the power play of his teachers. They used to blame each other. He did not like it since his father was also a teacher. So it appeared to him as a power game. He was also aware of politics. So he thought that he could not do anything about it since he was so insignificant a being that he could not even have time for love because of these powerful teachers. So he wanted to dream about love. The sleep was only the time, when he could think about love.

107. THE STRESS TALE

      These poems were reminding him the old days of struggle and suffering. He was again going down the memory lane. But all the memories were not pleasant. So he was feeling stressed within. Stella guessed that. So she phoned him,

-        Hi

-        I’ve not finished the Grey Diary yet.

-        I know.

-        How do you know?

-        I mean I guessed that.

-        Okay.

-        Are you feeling stressed?

-        Yes, a bit

-        I guessed that.

-        How?

-        It’s quite natural since you’re recalling your past now.

-        I did it while working on the first diary too.

-        Yes, that was not about frustration.

-        True. You are a clever woman.

-        Whatever; do one thing?

-        What?

-        Send me whatever you’ve written so far.

-        Okay.

-        May I ask you a personal question?

-        Why are you being so formal?

-        Okay, let me ask you directly.

-        That’s better.

-        Are you married?

-        No

-        Do you have a girlfriend?

-        Yes.

-        Where is she now?

-        She is in Mumbai now.

-        Okay she belongs to Mumbai…

-        No she belongs to a suburb of Kolkata.

-        Okay.

-        So I guess she is also stuck now.

-        Yes.

-        What’s her name?

-        Dipabali.

-        What?

-        Leave it you can call her Dipa.

-        Yes, I’ll call her Dipa.

-        Yes.

-        Okay send me the draft. I’ll call you soon.

-        Okay.

-        Bye.

-        Bye.

He sent her the draft immediately and waited for her reply. She read it quickly. The next morning she phoned him again,

-        Hi

-        Have you read it?

-        Yes, it was frustratingly great.

-        (Smile) Yes, that’s how it should be described.

-        Now tell me one thing.

-        What?

-        Do you know the Governor of California?

-        What a great question! How would I know?

-        You should know.

-        Okay.

-        He is my friend. His name is Gavin.

-        Where are you now?

-        I’m in Chandigarh.

-        Which state is it?

-        Punjab.

-        Okay. Can you just spell it?

-        Yes.

-        Wait for a second.

-        Okay.

She brought a pen and a diary and asked him again,

-        Okay now spell it.

-        Spell what?

-        (Smile) You are really frustrated and getting forgetful too.

-        Yes true.

-        Spell the name of the state, where you are staying now.

-        Okay. P for Peter, U for umbrella, N for Norway, J for Jordan, A for Afghanistan, B for Boston.

-        Okay. Do you know the name of the governor of this state?

-        No I know the name of the chief minister.

-        Is he the elected chief of the state?

-        Yes, he is equivalent to your Governor.

-        Okay.

-        What’s his name?

-        Amarinder Singh.

-        Please spell it.

-        A for Australia, M for Monday, A for Afghanistan, R for red, I for India, N for New Zealand, D for Doll, E for Egypt, R for red. That’s his name. And the surname is Singh.

-        Yes I know many Singhs.

-        Why are you asking these things?

-        You won’t understand.

-        Okay.

-        Take rest and keep writing. I’ll call you soon.

-        Okay.

-        Bye.

-        Bye.

     She cut the phone. After a few seconds the car cleaner called him. He got down the stairs with the key and opened the car door for him. And then he walked up the stairs to his apartment and phoned the laundry man so that he came and collected the used clothes for washing and pressing.

108. THE POEM ‘THE MAD’

Looking at the sun in the east sky, the mad pundit thinks

It could’ve been burst in the middle of the sky.

The colours would’ve sprinkled and have made the clouds wet.

The clouds would’ve got shrunken becoming sweet cakes.

If the cakes fell on the ground after a shake in the sky,

The breakfast could’ve been done with only those things.

Every morning, thus, he used to look at the sun.

Every one would think that he was busy in worshipping the sun.

109. FANTASY OF ‘THE MAD’

    It was a pure nonsense poem. There was a proverb in Bengali that if one had food in his stomach, he could tolerate a lot of pain. At the same time he recalled the nonsense poems of Sukumar, a famous Bengali nonsense writer, whom he read in his school life. Coincidentally he visited a sound studio of one of his teachers for an internship programme, where he saw huge posters depicting the poems of this famous poet. At the same time he was facing problems with food in the campus of the film school since till then there was no mess facility in the hostel, though later the administration would give it a thought after an agitation. With all these experiences he tried to write a nonsense.  

110. THE POEM ‘WHITE FLOWER’

The calm smoke in the tea cup; Sitting by the window

He looks outside with calm eyes.

Nearby a white flower beneath a green tree

Is lying being wet with dew in the calm morning.

Beautiful, beautiful and beautiful is she -

Far better than war, cry, lamentation and the world.

111. FANTASY OF ‘WHITE FLOWER’

      It was a flashback poem written in a December just after joining the film school. December is the time of soothing winter in Kolkata. So the weather was pleasant. But the world was busy with war. People were dying for nothing. Most probably it was the time of Iraq war. So he did not like people dying, crying and lamenting anywhere in the world. Thus he wrote this poem.

112. THE POEM ‘IT’S SMOKY ALL AROUND’

It’s smoky all around.

Inside the spark smoulders

Slowly and slowly.

The blue sky and the green earth

Get lost in the world of smoke.

It feels like to talk

With the ghost, god, and spirit.

It feels like to dream all day long

After the sleep.

In the dream there is a well.

Below there are snakes wriggling.

It feels hungry.

The sleep gets broken.

The unstable mind scouts for fairy tales.

With beauty, humour, palace and wealth

There arrives the prince of dream.

With the princess he gets fused

After love, touch and lone affair.

For a moment sweet air flows inside.

It feels good.

Yet the quest does not stop.

Searching and searching in smoke of weariness

Two eyes get closed.

113. THE POEM ‘IT’S SMOKY ALL AROUND’

    This was again a poem he was writing for those, who love fairytales and look for their Mr Right. Actually he was again trying to research on her girlfriend’s psychology that was totally driven by the fantasy of good look. He was also not an exception. He liked her. But now he realised that he liked her not only because she was pretty. But it was mainly because of the discourse of his childhood and puberty. Had he not spent time with her, he would not have fallen for her. It was not only the beauty, it was something more. She believed in god due to her orientation. But he was strongly driven by other materialistic philosophies. So now he understood that only with beauty one could not survive for a long. Actually the dream, hunger and beauty were correlated. Thus this surreal poem to explore the fantasy of her girlfriend.

114. THE POEM ‘LET THE FOUNTAIN FLOW’

Let the fountain flow on your body.

Let the fountain flow in my mind.

Let the fountain flow babbling babbling

With the taste of elixir.

Let the bud bloom at night.

Let the stars smile

After a long period of time.

115. FANTASY OF ‘LET THE FOUNTAIN FLOW’

     This was again a poem to cheer him up. He was studying in the film school. He was attending classes regularly. He was doing the projects. Amid all he was meeting new girls, who were making him nostalgic about his girlfriend. So he missed her and he was recalling her by writing this poem about wet beauty. He wanted to see her wet in water. He wanted to hug her with his wet mind. He wanted to be all wet in a starry night.

116. THE POEM ‘SUDDENLY THE BODY GETS WET’

Soul and soma want to part way.

The desire travels in the land of sound, colour and light.

The smell of flower seems good.

The red light makes it feel crazy.

From the bee hive a drop of honey

Suddenly falls on the tongue.

Suddenly the body gets wet.

From the river there comes the sound of rain.

117. FANTASY OF ‘SUDDENLY THE BODY GETS WET’

    This poem was the result of watching cinema. The cinema was technically created out of the three components sound, colour and light. Cinema was basically an illusion of reality that affect directly on the mind. Mind can fly everywhere. But the body was an obstacle to its imagination. So they wanted to be separate. At least he felt like that while writing the poem. Other lines were the ornaments that he used to decorate the poems.

118. THE POEM ‘BYPASS’

In front of my film school

There is the wide E.M. Bypass.

On the divider a mad woman

Used to stay with her ‘belongings’.

Along the Bypass the car used to go.

The buses and bikes used to go.

And quite often she used to shout.

One day upon curiosity I asked her,

‘Why do you shout?’

She just laughed at me.

‘What’s the history behind her laugh?’ -

I thought like a fool.

I didn’t think that like the skyscrapers

By the bypass,

This history has no market value.

119. FANTASY OF ‘BYPASS’

     He saw a dishevelled shabby nasty mad woman residing on the divider of the road E.M. Bypass in Kolkata. His film school was situated by this road. So he thought of this poem since nobody cared about the mad woman. He heard the stories of many talented people becoming mad in the end of their lives. He was unsure about his future too. So he wanted to write something about this.

120. THE POEM ‘BYPASS-1’

The standing girl on the bypass –

I like you.

I like your hair,

I like your attire and your glance,

Suddenly

I like it too much.

The momentary joy,

The momentary frustration.

Yet everyone moves on.

I also move on, hopeless.

121. FANTASY OF ‘BYPASS-1’

    As mentioned above, he was now looking for her girlfriend everywhere. As he used to eat at the street side food shops till the administration brought in the mess facility, he often used to travel along the sidewalk of E.M. Bypass. And like every young boy, he used to look at the beautiful girls. He started to develop the fetish for the appearance of the girls. Every time he saw a girl, he wanted to talk to her and play with her like he did it with his girlfriend in his childhood and teenage. But it was not possible since in the unknown city everybody was unknown and every encounter was unknown. So he was afraid about the unknown girls as every gentleman was.

122. THE POEM ‘BYPASS-2’

When I walk by the Bypass,

I see drain, dusty jujube tree,

And jungle flower.

I see stray dogs,

The perfume that walks by

Comes and shakes the dream.

Bypass of dust, green, and garbage –

By it there are the nascent skyscrapers.

123. FANTASY OF ‘BYPASS-2’

      This was a poem of Japanese style. He was learning Nihongo in a nearby university. There his teacher introduced him to Japanese poems. From there he learned the styles of visual description. Later he would also write a few haikus. So this poem was a visual description of the Bypass that he experienced everyday - nothing more or nothing less.

124. THE POEM ‘LET IT BE CALM’

Let the blue survive in the sky.

Let the mustard field be yellow.

Let the green come back again.

Let the mind calm down, calm down and calm down.

125. FANTASY OF ‘LET IT BE CALM’

    His mind was unstable since the busy world was unstable. The city of Kolkata, like all other cities, were congested and disturbed with human crowd. So he wanted fresh air and nature to be back. Somewhere down the line this torture of ‘civilisation’ on the mother earth had to stop and the mind needed to be refreshed.

126. THE POEM ‘GOOD’

The just unjust have gotten confused.

The colourful lights were everywhere.

The seven hues of the evening have

Settled down with full might.

Violet is good, blue is good.

Green is good, yellow is good.

Orange is good, red is good.

The time of liking them has just gotten limited.

127. FANTASY OF ‘GOOD’

    This poem was the extension of the previous poem. He was getting so busy with life that he could not cherish the beauty. Like every people around he found himself becoming mechanical.  He was simply jeopardised with busyness. He wanted to get rid of that.

128. THE POEM ‘GREY SEA’

The grey sea -

Again there is darkness.

The five senses suffer in fever.

Invisible lamentation.

For whom and why?

The failed question

Time and again.

129. FANTASY OF ‘GREY SEA’

     This was a flashforward poem. When he was writing this poem, he left the institute. He went to Mumbai and returned from there back home in northern Bengal. Then he again shifted back to Kolkata. Without a job, he felt frustrated. He was doing freelancing. Meanwhile he suffered in fever for a few days. He had had this disease of cough, cold with fever, since his childhood. He also had problems in his tonsils. But he had a habit of documenting feelings as poems. Thus he wrote this poem.

130. THE POEM ‘THE PAST’

The heart becomes empty. Lamentation!

The storm rages. The mind becomes blank.

Many words return anew.

There were mistakes in calculations.

But there was no escape.

There was no possibility to return.

The time laughs in persiflage.

Frustration and nightmare circle the life.

Where is the end? Where does it end? –The mind keeps scouting.

The debris of history spreads its hands.

The past – that’s only the wait of time.

131. FANTASY OF ‘THE PAST’

    By this time his girlfriend got married. His brain accepted it. But his heart did not. So he was being pessimistic about everything. He thought that it was a mistake to leave his home town. It was a mistake to come to Kolkata for higher study since his school life and childhood was so rich. He scored a bad result in his college life due to the absence of his girlfriend. Then in the film school all the minds appeared to be polluted with the dream of quick success. He neither wanted success nor the fame. He only wanted to get back to his girlfriend and thus to his home town. This was a suicidal poem. The last line revealed his intention that in near future he would commit suicide. But poems would make him alive. Had he not been able to write poems as catharsis, he would have definitely committed suicide.  So he was telling that everything would be the past.

132. THE POEM ‘FOR YOU’

For you I can write

Pages after pages.

In a moment I can fill

Thousands of diaries.

For you I can draw

A lot with water colour.

For you I can become

A failed poet.

133. FANTASY OF ‘FOR YOU’

     Frustrated with life, he started preparing for a civil service examination. He hated sound and cinema that ruined his life. Thus he joined a reputed coaching centre in the city of Kolkata. There he saw a pretty madam, who used to teach political science. It did not happen for everyone. But this madam aroused the feeling inside him again. Thus he wrote this poem.

134. THE POEM ‘ALMS’

Many words cannot be told

Since those do not sound well.

The heart gets heavy with unknown weight.

It’s said that weeping makes it light.

I don’t know. The eye water got vapourised many days ago.

Cacophony all around –

People die again they enjoy.

So what?

I live in an isolated island.

My happiness has been lost many days before.

I hate the alms of kindness.

135. FANTASY OF ‘ALMS’

   This poem showed the bitter truth about the unorganised film world, where employment happened by references. So he got his first job in his film school itself as an intern. But the job was totally manufactured and given by the higher authority though the requirement was there. As a result of the job because of too much of travelling due to the conspiracy of a teacher and a few of his batch mates, he developed permanent backache for the first time. After this he went to protest against it to the head of the department. He said that he had been taken in this job to clean the shit. His subordinate teacher, who sent him for a production assistant’s job to Pune via Chennai, said to him that he was there to bear his orders. He wrote a note against him. In reply to the note he used the word ‘request’. For the first time he realised that it’s nothing but a political game being played by his superiors. And when he texted to the teacher, who referred his name to the administration, about whether his contract would get renewed or not, he simply said ‘no’. Now he realised the game being played against him. Since then he hated sound and any of the people, who were bossy and acquired a higher post with higher salary. He would simply not talk to them until it was not extremely urgent. Yes he developed a complex that told him continuously to hate the bossy higher authority. And it would not go so easily.

136. THE POEM ‘MELANCHOLIC’

For a long time I have not swum in the river water.

For a long time I have not talked to you.

For a long time I have not felt the air by the calm river.

For a long time I have not met my Nepali friend.

I’m not feeling well. I’m not feeling sleepy.

In the cloudy mind it’s raining cats and dogs.

137. FANTASY OF ‘MELANCHOLIC’

     He met a Napali police officer once while travelling by a train to his home town. He was a nice guy having a great passion for cinema and music. He would take him to Darjeeling several times to build up a film school over there. This plan was still going on. But due to his jobs, he had been travelling across the country. So he was missing him. He was missing his girlfriend. And he was missing his home town. So he was feeling sad and melancholic.

138. THE PAUSE

    Again he was tired of going down the memory line. So he took a bit of rest. He was not awaiting any phone call. He simply wanted a peaceful break. But Stella understood it. He was struggling to translate the poems since they were reminding him about the days of his frustrations. The Grey Diary was all about that. And it was the longest one. The year 2007 and 2008 were most frustrating to him. He had no clue about the future. He was surrounded by fake success mongers. So he paused for one day. The next day when he was sitting to write after the breakfast, at around 10 o’clock Stella called him,

-        Hi

-        Yes.

-        What are you doing now?

-        Just sat for writing.

-        And you were not being able to write.

-        Yes.

-        It happens. Take rest.

-        Yes. It’ll take more time than what I expected.

-        Don’t worry. Take your time.

-        Yes, it’s going more and more depressing. I’m just thinking of finishing the Grey Diary as soon as possible.

-        No no. Take your time. It has to be pure and truthful. Don’t do anything in hurry.

-        I have contacted Gavin.

-        Who is Gavin?

-        My friend and the governor…

-        Yes you told me that.

-        Yes

-        You contacted him about what?

-        I told him about you.

-        And what happened…

-        He said he would do anything to materialise our dream projects.

-        Why? Don’t you have the money?

-        Yes I have. But your Orange got stolen, right?

-        Yes.

-        So, we need a little bit of political help.

-        Okay.

-        Gavin will soon contact Amarinder.

-        Okay.

-        You take rest and try to write and don’t leak what I said to you.

-        Okay. I’ll not leak anything. In fact so far I did not tell anything about this project to anyone.

-        Yes, that’s better.

-        How is your girlfriend?

-        She is fine.

-        You know what happened near Mumbai?

-        No. What happened?

-        Mob lynching.

-        I did not get the news.

-        I knew it.

-        When did it happen?

-        Two days back. Call your girlfriend and check whether she is safe or not.

-        Okay. I’ll call her right away.

-        Don’t get panicked. The situation is under control.

-        Okay.

-        Just ask her how she is doing.

-        She did not tell me anything about it.

-        May be she does not know about it at all.

-        She is eating and sleeping in Mumbai.

-        She should do it.

-        Yes, what else could be done in this situation?

-        Yes, true. Just call her and talk as you did it before. Don’t feel panicked or give her panic.

-        Yes, true.

-        Good night.

-        Bye.

    Stella cut the phone. Immediately he called her girlfriend in Mumbai. She was preparing breakfast. She told her about the news. She also did not know it. She said that she would call back after watching the television. After a few minutes she called back and described the situation to him. She added that people did not understand their own good. More than hundred people had already been arrested. However she told him not to worry.

139. THE POEM ‘NEARBY, GLISTENING THE HEAVEN’

Nearby, glistening the heaven,

-the sea of sensation.

It feels weary after running for ages,

Whole body is naked, busy, disheveled and cliché,

Though the sandy beach sparkles and the daylight softens, it sweats.

It sweats till the perspiration mixes with tear.

The eyes burn in pain.

Sparkle of sand fades away somewhere,

The sea water is softer, glitzier and glistening more and more,

The naked life runs, to dive into it, on the shore.

Slowly the sea comes closer,

And slowly her time runs up toward the end.

Nearby,

Glistening the heaven.

140. FANTASY OF ‘NEARBY, GLISTENING THE HEAVEN’

   This was a poem about uncertain future. After writing this poem, he read a real story in a newspaper that an aspiring model committed suicide in Howrah. This sparked insecurity inside him since he was also going to work in the same profession in near future. He felt that he was close to the massive Indian Film Industry, but he had no clue about how to enter the industry. He saw the big studios in Mumbai as his teacher took them to the studios as part of an industry tour. But he also added that the people working there were getting alms of money except the head engineer. These stories made him feel isolated, insecure and frustrated. And just then this news of suicide appeared in the newspaper. A dream to be big in the tinsel town got extinguished. So his imagination followed the suit, which was not at all expected. Thus he again felt really unhappy about it since he could have been the subject to this fatal expectation. This story made him cautious about the future.

141. THE POEM ‘UNATTACHED’

Poetry, poetry, poetry -

Holding the pen the burnt mind sits idle.

Yet, a single line cannot be written.

The sadness within is kept by

The immobile words.

Only the heart gets churned up,

The eyes are tired of looking at things,

Whether it’s bad or good,

Incidents happen everywhere.

Unattached, uncommitted mind

Live fearing the death.

142. FANTASY OF ‘UNATTACHED’

      Almost two months he could not write a single poem. But now he got a little bit of spare time. But he became inert. He was not liking the place where he was being for the time being. He was facing a block. He asked for a new mattress from the warden, but he had a tendency to serve the students from rich background. And he was seeing this typical ‘production’ mentality everywhere in the film school. This was how this world ran. He would be a silent spectator to everything. And always he would not be able to write it down.

143. THE POEM ‘MY FILM SCHOOL’

Challenging many odds

My film school lives.

Amid the good, bad and joy

The conspiracy of living gets lost.

From the sky on the lake water rain falls.

The eyes get satiated with the smoke of water.

Yet, a drop of water oozes often

From the corners of two eyes.

With a heartful of frustration the helpless bud,

Lives in the hope of blooming someday.

144. FANTASY OF ‘MY FILM SCHOOL’

    He was a silent spectator of everything happening around. He was reading Rumsey and McCormick, Glenballou etc as a sound specialization student to prepare himself for the future war. He was facing many odds in his film school life. Yet, he had a tendency not to give up hope. After every depression, he tried to cheer him up. And all he had a pen and a paper to do that. This was his weapon to rectify all the odds. So he wrote this poem of hope keeping the reality intact. This poem summed up all his experiences in the film school.

145. THE POEM ‘BUBBLE’

In deep dark of the blue sea

A bubble goes up to the sea surface,

Where its death is

Waiting.

146. FANTASY OF ‘BUBBLE’

      Again he was trying to write a poem in Japanese style - but this time with a touch of life. Every poem is related to life. But here it directly meant that the life would end soon after experiencing everything around. There was no other way out but to reach the sea surface i.e. the top and die. That’s the destiny of every life. No dumb astrologer was needed to predict this thing.

147. THE POEM ‘LIVING CORPSE’

The living corpse, lying in fever,

Does not lament anymore.

There is no love in unspoken words.

There remains only remnant of gunpowder.

A shore of ocean floats

In the unwinking callous eyes.

A lot surpassed,

Remaining - a lot more.

Weary mind seeks rest,

Within the womb of night.

Yet, the heart throbs day and night.

The living corpse awaits a painless retirement

Of the heart machine.

148. FANTASY OF ‘LIVING CORPSE’

     Again he fell ill amidst the loneliness of city life. Though this poem sounded quite like the poem ‘Rotten Corpse’, it was different. He used to feel feverish whenever the season got changed. As told before he had some minor health issues that occurred during the season change time. He did not like this illness. And for a moment he felt like dying. So he just wanted to take rest after having medicine.

149. THE POEM ‘TRIVIAL HEART IN THE CROWD’

It’s a trivial heart in the crowd.

Hopes often peep up.

The explosive of dreams disappear in pain.

Helplessly two eyes stare.

The body is as busy as machines.

At the end of the day,

It’s the television that satisfies.

Yet the unsatisfied heart sits in vain,

Silently in urban air.

150. FANTASY OF ‘TRIVIAL HEART IN THE CROWD’

     After experiencing the big bosses of the institute, he felt a crisis within. In the common room of the hostel there was no television. So he missed the television. He tried, but he could never accommodate himself with the life of the new city until his cousin brother would take him at their adda of a little magazine. Even there new erudite people used to come and he was a mere listener in every case. That time enriched him indeed. At the same time it made him lonely in the city. He wanted to speak. But he could not. So he felt like a trivial heart in the crowd.

151. THE POEM ‘REMIND ME’

When my friends move away from me, so bless me that

I do not have time to wonder.

When close ones leave me slowly, so bless me that

I do not have time to cry.

Only after walking a long distance

In a strange crowd of known faces,

Keep reminding me that

I am a trivial drop of life among millions.

152. FANTASY OF ‘REMIND ME’

         So far he had written many poems. He had read some bad poems of some infamous poets. He just could not imagine how these silly poets got famous. He wrote poems to document his feelings. What more could it have to be unique? He never wrote for fame. He started writing at a much younger stage. He never struggled to become a poet. It came to him naturally. But he was seeing the arrogance of some poets, who really got famous by writing nasty dirty mediocre poems, which had neither any meaning nor connected to their lives. But they got famous rather infamous. But he never wanted to be like them. He wrote poems only when he felt an emotional upheaval in his heart. It was the documentation of his feelings indeed. So he was scared to end the life like them. So he never showed his poems to anyone but once to a very senior script writer. And he always wanted to be with people. He just did not want to be like them. It was always better to be a trivial heart in the crowd.

153. THE POEM ‘BUSY YOU’

Though I know you are busy

With your work in your country,

Far away far away,

Yet closer and closer you come

By the tension of the rope of letters.

With the storm your name

Flies in along the sky.

Travelling the world becoming tired,

You’ll come to me -

Thinking that I am waiting

For you here.

154. FANTASY OF ‘BUSY YOU’

    This was a long story. He went to Busan, the then Pushan, of South Korea to attend a workshop. There he met a pretty girl Tamara from Belarush. Later she would write letters to him. He would reply to those letters from his home town. And he would publish a magazine with her pictures and some of his selected poems. So he wrote this poem for her.

155. THE POEM ‘THE ANT’

The ant swims

Against the current

So that he can reach

The grass flower bloomed

On the riverbank.

156. FANTASY OF ‘THE ANT’

     This poem again indicated his inner wish to get back to his girlfriend and thus his home town. So he was imagining a tiny ant’s effort to defy the huge river current and go against it to enjoy the beauty of the grass flower.

157. THE POEM ‘ON THE SEA SHORE OF MADRAS’

The light of the world will go out slowly.

With reflections of the dense clouds on the breast

The waves hit the sea shore

Of Madras.

158. FANTASY OF ‘ON THE SEA SHORE OF MADRAS’

     This was a poem conceived by a sea beach of Madras. He got a scholarship to stay and study in Chennai. Before his final diploma film in the institute, he got the chance. The head of the department advised to go for the course as his director delayed to start the final project. So he spent all most six months in Chennai. There he met new friends, both girls and boys. They would inspire him to write again. Actually in Bengali, the Madras was pronounced as Madraj after her British name. It would become Chennai post independence. So he used the word ‘Madraj’in the Bengali poem actually.

159. THE POEM ‘I’M WATER’

How do I tell you that

I’m water.

I’m destined to flow.

You’re the goose.

You came and played on me.

I saw with happiness

While flowing with speed.

Certainly you thought this was my hoax.

But how do I make you understand

That I’m the river water?

160. FANTASY OF ‘I’M WATER’

     This poem was written after travelling to Korea and Madras. This had made him curious about the new places. So he was comparing himself with river water and trying to convince her girlfriend that he was not playing any hoax with her. But the journey of life had taken him away from her, though this emotion was temporary. Soon he would feel homesick again.

161. THE POEM ‘IF YOU CAN…’

If you can hold me tight;

I want to be stable.

In the palm tree like the weaver birds

We’ll live together.

I know the storm will come.

The nest will be ravaged.

Yet, hold me tight.

I want to be stable and

Look at the blue sky with my wondering eyes.

162. FANTASY OF ‘IF YOU CAN…’

     This poem again expressed his desire to be stable and to form a family with his girlfriend. He would start writing his next novel ‘InFaTuAtIoN’ within a month. In this novel he would try to describe his feelings for opposite sex as infatuation. This novel would be highly misunderstood, misinterpreted and used as an untold source of cheap cinemas. But he wrote this story at the backdrop of his home town. He would gift it to some of his friends as well as sell it to some people. However, he wanted to be stable. But he did not know how. His future was uncertain and he could not marry anybody because of financial instability. His father got retired. He would leave the institute very soon. Amid all these he tried to forget the love of his puberty as infatuation. This poem was his desire to marry his girlfriend. And the novel was his counter intention to forget the affair he had by calling it infatuation. The different forces were working inside him. He was developing multiple personalities. One person in him wanted to be stable in life. But the reality was telling him that it was not possible. So he developed another mature pragmatic writer in him. The novel was the result of the head-on collision between these two personalities. And the immature lover created the poem.  

163. THE POEM ‘THE DRIZZLE, CONTINOUS’

Depression, tiredness, and the smoke of cigarette –

In the bitter mouth there’re the tasteless buds.

In the brain the non-working sparks

Run like a barren sperm.

In the hole of sexuality there’s the failure.

Only picture, blood red rose and

Smell-less wall paper.

Different from cry, laughter –

Undefined feelings below the eyes.

Yet, after a long time

It feels good to see the continuous drizzle out there

On the lake water.

164. FANTASY OF ‘THE DRIZZLE, CONTINUOUS’

      This was a flashback poem. He was writing this poem just before he would start writing Orange. This was the time when the idea of Orange was slowly developing inside his brain. But he was not being able to pen it down. He started a little bit of smoking and occasional drinking in the institute. So he was feeling frustrated in his brain. This poem was an abstract description of his state of mind.

165. THE POEM ‘IT CALLS CLOSE’

The smoke in black hair,

On the lips there’s the explosive of rotten cigarette.

Yet, into the eye balls the heart builds its hut.

It calls close

And closer.

166. FANTASY OF ‘IT CALLS CLOSE’

   Again it was an abstract poem. He was sitting in the tea shop on the opposite side of his institute. He was gossiping with his friends. He was smoking a little bit. Occasionally he was drinking in his room with his teachers. Especially the production teacher used to come to his room occasionally. He used to take him out to the clubs of Kolkata often. There they used to chit-chat with wine and food. This poem was the result of the burning desire to create something.

167. THE POEM ‘WHAT’S SO WRONG IN IT!’

If he suddenly feels ostracised, what’s so wrong it?

What’s so wrong in it if the solitary mind lives in the solitary sky?

If it does not live, what’s so wrong in it?

From the infinite vacuum to more vacuum

Walking a lot of distance, panting in tiredness,

Just before the death if he finds a chunk of

Childhood,

What’s so wrong in it!

168. FANTASY OF ‘WHAT’S SO WRONG IN IT!’

      He could not remember where he conceived this poem. But it was clear that he was still in the quest of his childhood. Momentarily he felt lonely. And he had a complex that always drove him to think that he might die tomorrow. So he did not care anything at all. He used to respect people. But he had no fear as always. But when the people, he loved and respected, betrayed him, he felt sad and lonely. It used to happen quite often in the institute. He did not like this phenomenon at all. And whenever he felt betrayed, he used to feel lonely and go down the memory lane to his childhood that was pure and jovial. Thus this poem got conceived – a momentary frustration.

169. THE POEM ‘WHETHER IT FEELS GOOD OR BAD…’

Whether it feels good or bad,

To live is the destiny.

Counting the pains of love,

In the dream of acquiring the ultimate state of mind,

Getting absorbed is the peace.

In the weight of dream, hope and wait

The courage to love is dim.

170. FANTASY OF ‘WHETHER IT FEELS GOOD OR BAD…’

     The lover inside him spoke again. The factors of real life were hiding the lover time and again. He wanted to say that the institute gave him dream. But the same institute snatched his love from him. At the same time dream was there. But no straight way to reach the dream was visible. So it was bringing frustration in mind. But one had to live with all of these. So it was a moment of nothingness in life that would continue for a long period of time.

171. THE POEM ‘IN THE LAND OF JOY’

In the same boat, reaching the village of joy

They met each other.

They talked, they felt good, and they could focus on

Creating the joy.

In the end of the day, they had enough weary spare time.

Beneath the moon beam,

Amidst the workers,

They talked for a while and they had the wish.

They had a little time.

Meanwhile the task of creating joy got ended.

In the same boat, crossing the river

Both of them hugged each other.

It felt good, it felt happy, and the mind became empty.

172. FANTASY OF ‘IN THE LAND OF JOY’

     Till now he had not hugged any girl. So this was his imagination what could happen after he hugged any girl. So the platonic love, the imagination might get lost – that was his doubt. He was not from a culture that would simply copy anything from the west like the copycats do. He was well aware of the Western Civilisation. But he was never taught to copy them without any justification. So he was just from a culture that did not allow couple to hug each other in public. It was the culture of Indian subcontinent. And he was not crazy for a hug. He was rather crazy for sex that was what couple should do. He was simply not into the half culture of the half pants.

173. THE POEM ‘THE EYES’

A pair of eyes that want to

See me time and again –

Let’s finish the life looking for them.

If they are found, what will be left?

174. FANTASY OF ‘THE EYES’

    This was again a philosophical poem in the quest for two eyes that were crazy for him. Actually he was looking for a true love without conditions. And that was not possible in the labyrinth of the system that he was living in now. So his skepticism grew more and more. In fact in a world, where everyone seemed greedy for success, true love did not exist. So he was predicting that he would not find a true love in this life.

175. THE POEM ‘THE AIR COMES AND KISSES’

The air comes and kisses the whole body.

The naked homeless mind floats into

The deep darkness of dream.

In the greed to taste the flawless joy

The flower falls on the mud.

It rolls up and down in crazy mirth.

The petals get torn one by one.

In the storm, water, mud clad night

The air comes and kisses the whole body.

The naked homeless petal floats into

The deep darkness of dream.

176. FANTASY OF ‘THE AIR COMES AND KISSES’

    This poem was about the desire to have sex. He was not rich. He stayed far away from home so he was homeless. And the word homeless was quite akin to Bengal. Post independence India got divided by the conspiracy of the British. Thousands of people got homeless due to the partition. The most affected states were Punjab and Bengal. He belonged to Bengal. So the word homeless reminded him about the partition. He read the history. He heard about it from his parents. So he also felt like one of them as a Bengali. So the word homeless was very important for him. Now far away from his home, he felt like a homeless.  And as a homeless young man he also had the desire to have sex. So he wanted to have sex now. But he was afraid of the dark consequences too.

177. THE POEM ‘BOKUL’

See my friend under the Bokul tree how the Bokuls drop.

The leaves of the Bokul tree, how they move up and down.

The cold wind comes and softly touches them.

Suddenly a drop of rain falls on my bare skin.

I wish after calling I tell you with the open heart

See my friend under the Bokul tree how the Bokuls drop.

178. FANTASY OF ‘BOKUL’

    This was a fun rhyme. He was recalling the Bokul tree that was there opposite to the gate of his high school. By now he had mastered the art of rhyme. So he was imagining two girls were playing underneath the Bokul tree and enjoying the nature and fragrance. So it was completely his imagination. This poem was a result of the Bengali rhymes he had read so far plus his imagination and attraction toward girls.

179. THE POEMS ‘UNCOVERED’

     He finished ‘Grey Diary’ according to the blog. So he sent a mail to Stella attaching the updated draft. After that he took a refreshing shower and shaved his beard. Now he thought of relaxing for a few days until Stella called back. After almost two days in the morning Stella called him,

-        Hi

-        Hi, good morning.

-        Good evening. What’s up?

-        Nothing much, just relaxing a bit.

-        Okay, that’s great.

-        Have you read it?

-        Yes.

-        And how was it?

-        Fantastic.

-        Thanks!

-        Are you in touch with your family?

-        Yes over phone.

-        How do they do?

-        Bored of the lockdown. But they are fine.

-        How is the situation in India?

-        Lockdown till 3rd.

-        After that…

-        No one knows, what’s going to happen.

-        Situation is worse in here.

-        You have any idea regarding what to do in this situation.

-        I have no clue. I am also tired of this situation.

-        Yes, everyone is suffering due to the virus.

-        Here in India the daily wagers are suffering a lot.

-        How did you get this information?

-        My dad called me in the morning.

-        And what did he say?

-        In Kolkata, the daily wagers are facing huge trouble.

-        That’s quite natural.

-        What are the governments doing out there?

-        No idea. In this situation every news agency is busy promoting the leaders.

-        Did you get any information regarding the food stock of India?

-        Yes, one of my friends said that the central government had sent rice grains for eight months to West Bengal government.

-        You mean to the state where your family lives?

-        Yes.

-        That’s great.

-        No but it was not getting distributed properly.

-        Okay.

-        And what about Mumbai?

-        Cases were increasing every day.

-        Yes same here.

-        Okay. Take care.

-        I think it’s all happening due to this strange economy.

-        Yes true.

-        So what’s your suggestion at this stage?

-        I don’t know. All I know everything is under threat.

-        As in?

-        As it happens in every congested city.

-        What do you mean? Tell me specifically.

-        For example take any congested city like New York, Tokyo, Mumbai or Kolkata.

-        What about them?

-        In these cities people commute like cattle in local trains.

-        Yes true.

-        That’s under threat.

-        True. What about villages?

-        There is no proper village anymore. In villages the farmers don’t want to farm anymore because of rapid urbanization. And most of their families have migrant labourers, who are now stuck in different states far away from home.

-        What are they saying?

-        What to say madam? They are coming out to the streets saying that anyway they are going to die.

-        So they are not afraid of the virus.

-        No longer.

-        That’s gonna be dangerous man!

-        Yes. I guess more danger is ahead. Everybody has a right to live comfortably.

-         In USA also enough food is there. It just has to be distributed properly?

-        And the GDP driven market economy won’t allow that.

-        Yes, that’s where we are stuck. What about Tata?

-        He is an exceptional man. But again people could not wait for the mercy of the rich. Not every rich is benevolent. It’s the right of the people to live a comfortable and better life. This point has to be noted.

-        (Smile) Yes. Noted with thanks. Now calm down.

-        Are you going to work more on this draft?

-        Yes, why not?

-        No I was thinking that everyone is getting upset with the situation. So I should not force you.

-        You have never forced me.

-        Thanks. What next you want to work on?

-        On the poems ‘uncovered’.

-        The section ‘open’ or something like that?

-        Yes, this section consists of poems both from ‘The First Diary’ and ‘Grey Diary’.

-        Okay.

-        Yes, But these poems contain limitless unrestricted fantasies.

-        Okay.

-        So I categorised them in the section ‘Uncovered’.

-        So it’s gonna be explicit now?

-        Yes kind of.

-        Great! You are going great.

-        Thanks.

-        Another thing I wanted to tell you.

-        What?

-        Gavin phoned Amarinder.

-        Really?

-        Yes.

-        And what did they talk about?

-        Nothing much. I did not hear the conversation. But he said that you should keep in touch with your friends, who read your books.

-        Yes, I am in touch with at least two friends, who thoroughly read my books.

-        That’s enough.

-        Why? Are you going to take it to the court?

-        Yes something like that may happen.

-        That’ll be great. And ..

-        Yes tell me.

-        I sent my books to National Library of India and Asian Film Academy Archive in Busan too.

-        That’s fantastic.

-        Thanks.

-        Let’s wait for the normalcy. Everything will be alright.

-        I hope so. And till now I don’t need any more money from you…

-        (LOL) You are a gentleman, indeed.

-        Thanks.

-        Okay. Bye for now.

-        Bye.

180. THE POEM ‘SHAMELESS’

The heart cries for joy, the old stops it.

Can’t think what to do and where to go.

Seeing the soft smile, blood red lips, warm body,

Tell me dear how to stop it, the wish spreads its wings.

My blood is primitive, my body is crazy.

Shameless is my creation, how do I hate it?

The callous heart keeps looking to the path of great time –

When will the thunder fall on the artificiality?

The laughter of the old will be burnt and destroyed.

The civilisation will smile again with a lot of greens.

The warmth will be aroused and the joy will be flowed.

The will will fly again, nobody will stop.

In the land of joy at calm and cold night,

I will do whatever I want with my love.

In the sky the moon will smile blue and calm.

On this earth the flute of limitless joy will play.

With the infallible honey of Mahua and in the make-up of madness

The Dunduvi will play on the land of greens.

The empty bereft basket of heart will be fulfilled.

With the hues of lust every sorrow will go.

The stream wet with moonbeam will make the soma wet.

The dream of love will be aroused in the suave, cold and slippery body.

On the earth there will come the primitive nudity.

The civilisation of Monu will be destroyed.

So, let it go, let the old go, let it go to hell.

We will stay back unshackled and float in the river of joy.

181. FANTASY OF ‘SHAMELESS’

    Now he was reading about Monu and Batsayan. As it was told before he would not take anything without proper justification. So he was totally discarding the idea of Monu that said sex was a duty to produce child. He liked Batsayan more since he told that sex is fun. In this poem he was throwing venom to the community of orthodox old people, who were the unsaid obstacle to have an intercourse with his girlfriend. He simply hated them. This poem was written in his teenage in his ‘First Diary’.

182. THE POEM ‘THE CHANGE OF TIME’

The wish is there in my marrow, the shame is thus gone.

I want to live the way I want with my own religion.

Whatever the blood-flesh-heart-mind tell, I do.

I am free, not shackled, but I keep dying in love.

The fire is on my eyes and in the body there’s the heat.

Whenever I want I’ll burn the ultimate youth-mind.

The tide will come close, the mind will become crazy.

The garbage of the dead river will be washed off.

Come and lick the will deadly and regretless.

The cry and smile, fire and spring, are fused in one body.

The heart is indifferent toward the shout, slogans or protests.

With the sorrow and joy the lamentation of heart got mixed up.

I know that and I follow that and I hear the song of heart.

I’ve been sitting here for thousand years, awaiting you.

The wish peeps through the corner of eyes and mind.

The change of time will come to break the old make-up.

Enough is enough, impatient, no waiting anymore.

The vagabond will create his luck with his own hands.

183. FANTASY OF ‘THE CHANGE OF TIME’

      Again this was a poem from his “First Diary’. This was the beginning of his puberty. He was experiencing change in his body and mind. The sexual desire was growing inside. He was becoming crazy to have sex with his girlfriend. But the society is stopping him from doing that. So he was writing this poem. It was told before that the emotion, enough is enough, will produce some of his poems. And this one was one of them.

184. THE POEM ‘THE RHYTHM OF LIFE’

I will go with you to a new land far away

With the make-up of a vagabond leaving the shackle.

I will go far away leaving behind all shame.

I’ll go filling the heart with infallible rhythm of life.

Running to the deep forest with the call of green

I’ll play with you, the princess of my heart.

The sun will see, the moon will see, the star will see

What a joy flows along the two hearts!

Sinking in the beauty-ocean of the eternal beauty,

I’ll scout the jewel of heart time and again.

For a thousand years what nobody could see,

That wave of the unknown land will float us across.

Floating in tide we’ll leave the notorious bond.

How does it matter if the fools keep on brawling with each other?

The beauty has called me, I will for sure respond.

Leaving the false attire, I’m coming, just wait my dear.

The heart wants, so I’ll leave the decent eyes.

With the seven hues, on the body river, I’ll play love -holi.

185. FANTASY OF ‘THE RHYTHM OF LIFE’

     This was a poem about running away from the eyes of the society to a new land, where nobody would be there to dictate them. But that was not possible in a society, where people were bound by the so called decency. This poem was against the decency – a desire to play with the body of his love in a new land. Actually he wanted to be alone with his girlfriend and taste her body. But again the society was bound by the ‘decency’. So he felt to be 'indecent' with his girlfriend.

186. THE POEM ‘IN HEAVEN-HELL’

You want to tether the light with the rules, the fire with the society!

With the force you want to stop the evergreen spring!

Every effort will go in vain; you will die rotting-melting.

The rule of the free was written by the nature.

The moon and sun will bring in night and day.

The joy of love will be fulfilled with the spring.

The flowers will bloom on the earth till the light is there.

In the dark tell me how the flute can play!

The heart gets filled with the music and happy wine.

The cry and pain get lost in the sound of laughter.

So,

In heaven-hell with blood-smell let the decent race live.

Smeared with grace, in the wild joy, let the night be spent.

187. FANTASY OF ‘IN HEAVEN-HELL’

        The love made him realise that life was not all about happiness. It cannot be so called pure or holy. This idea of holiness was a pure contradiction to the human life. And he thought of sex and he wanted to have sex. So he was protesting against the norms of the society that were preventing them to have sex. As a solution he was telling how to live both in hell and heaven at the same time. That was what life is all about. It simply could not be just pure and holy. It had to be a mixture of the both.

188. THE POEM ‘CONFLICT’

In the conflict between soul and soma and the primitive friction,

The limitless joy within the limit exists with the love-bond.

In the body the joy of love has reached the epitome.

So, the mind is shameless in the ocean of love.

The suave river, wet body, primitive nudity

Bring in heavenly joy and extreme madness.

Underneath the fountain in the fusion of two bodies

The scarlet green nature plays with the tune of ultimate joy.

Decent-indecent bargain is happening in full swing.

The mind does not know, the heart does not hear sitting out there.

189.  FANTASY OF ‘CONFLICT’

     This was a poem about the conflict and touch. He was eager to touch his girlfriend vividly. In the puberty as the sexuality gets ripe, he felt the urge to have sex with her girlfriend. But only having sex does not mean anything. So he was talking about primitiveness, where there was no shame. Absolute pleasure under the scarlet sky in the green nature would engulf them. They would also be nude to explore the friction of the two bodies. That was what he wanted to do.

190. THE POEM ‘INDOMITABLE’

The sky, adorned with seven hues of rainbow,

Smiles in the new joy-dense dawn with dreamollusion.

The life rushes to get lost having no destination.

The desire floods across the mad heart.

The slim river’s dream friction on well-built stone –

The cold life gets satisfied with the warm touch.

On the chest of deep dense hill with ups and downs

The soft light strikes upon with fully mad joy.

When the happiness and joy flood breaking the dam,

How could the dove-duo not respond?

191. FANTASY OF ‘INDOMITABLE’

     He was now describing a proper backdrop for sex. This poem was all about sex metaphorically. He compared himself with a stone and his girlfriend with a hilly stream. Again he was comparing her with soft light and himself with a hill. This way he was describing the desire along the poem. He was trying to say that everything was conducive for a fusion. So how could they not respond to it?

192. THE POEM ‘THE WISH’

In the fountain-wet, soft-sweet, lotus-smell of body,

The sad mind dances with the rhythm of the warmth.

Amid the life of seven hues, there is the wish –

If the warmth does not touch it how could it play?

The heart day-dreams and the mind spreads its wings.

The birds in the sky keep on flying.

In the dark forest the deer runs after the doe.

In the shy eyes of the doe the wish plays.

The spring wind strikes the green leaves.

Amid these the wild goose finds the geese.

With the rhythm of light, shadow, soft wind, and calm waves,

The love gets spread across the pores of the body.

Across the sky, wind and nature with the call of heavenly desire,

The wave of love is running today, who could stop it?

193. FANTASY OF ‘THE WISH’

     This was a poem taken from his life and dedicated to all the lovers of the nature. He always found animals are purer than human beings. And the love is also unconditional. It was only possible, when one became part of the nature. So he was comparing the lovers with the deer, the goose etc. He was also challenging the establishment by saying that no one could stop this wave of love. It was pure, unconditional and natural.

194. THE POEM ‘VIBRATION’

The body looks for supplement, the will spreads wings.

Inside heart, therefore, the shape is imagined.

From sky to universe to the road of cosmic time,

As a feel for body, the existence remains confined.

The just-unjust  - calculations -  would have got confusing,

Had the humankind not found a shape, amazing.

Zero and infinity are quite an enigma.

Between them there lies the pain of soul and soma.

The allurement of dreamy joy and invisible illusion -

Everywhere there is a chemistry, hidden.

The creation of new is always in pain -

The irresistible, impassioned, vibration's rain.

The vibration is old gold - the root of creation.

The vibrated is, therefore, in quest of  jubilation.

195. FANTASY OF ‘VIBRATION’

      This poem had a long story. He was studying in a reputed college in the northern   suburb of Kolkata. Now the reality was it was a boys’ college. So, they always missed girl friends. A girls’ school was there by their college. But he did not have any interest in the girls of that school since till now his girlfriend was unmarried. By this time he completed the manuscript of his first book ‘Hotya’. As a friend he used to visit another reputed university, where his school mate Purabi got admitted. Now he was studying Physics. He was meeting Purabi with his friends. And in this process, he fell in love with Purabi. Why he had no idea? In the course of time Hawking’s work on string theory got published. He read about it and discussed it with his friends. From this theory and the love and affection toward Purabi, this poem was born. This poem was like a child of them, yes Purabi and him.

196. THE POEM ‘FREE’

Jumbled-up all the fun.  

The disease is called 'Think-not'.  

A vagabond still believes though,  

The horizon is earshot.

 A girl weeps sitting there.  

Of the fact she is aware  

That she is alone unlike others.  

Nobody is there for her.  

The drunk vagabond notices  

And then he beckons her.  

She senses danger.  

Yet considering a stranger

She comes closer.  

The vagabond asks,  

- "Why do you weep dear?"  

- "I've been looking for days.  

But I can't find a peer  

Of my kind.” She says.  

- "Why do you search dear?  

The time will flow away."  

- "I think of so many things  

That I wanna share someday."  

- "Why do you think like a fool?  

If you don't, you'll get all,  

Whatever you want and long  

 - a handsome plastic doll."  

-" I don't want all those."  

-" Then what? Only voice?"  

-"You are right - a free voice.  

Would you hear? I'll say  

What I thought till today."  

-" No dear. I'm diseased."  

-"What disease? What's the name?"  

-" 'Think-not' - a rare disease."  

-"How is it? Symptoms?"  

-" Time kicks, pinches and  

Slaps hard on and on."  

-" How strange? Dangerous?"  

-"Yes, very contagious.  

The whole town is suffering.

That's why I am fleeing  

To a land where there is no time."  

-"Where is the land of no time?"  

-"Still searching, still searching.  

I haven't yet found the thing."  

-"Would you take me with you?"  

-"Where would I take you to!?  

It’s not possible, I guess!

Tell me how I can spoil your flowery face.  

I'm in a complete mess -  

No house, no address.  

I have only one friend -  

The dust of the road to no end.  

People call me mad.  

Some call me drunk and bad.  

As they say I don't fit  

In their great land.  

Also, I never wanted to stay with them.  

Yet, my heart clings to my homeland.  

-"Then why did you leave?"  

-" There came the epidemic  

Ruining the rythm of life.  

The disease is called 'Think-not' -  

A very rare type.  

This disease touched me and  

I left my homeland  

To look for a remedy.  

I'll go wherever I can find it.

Can you show me the way to the land of remedy?"  

-"You are diseased, indeed.  

You are diseased, indeed.  

You have lost your sight  

And the creative mind.  

The land you are looking for  

Is by your side.  

Tell me wanderer,  

'Will you take me with you?' "  

-"Wait a bit, wait a bit.  

Let me just think a bit.  

Who are you and  

Why did you come across?"  

-"I am at a loss  

And I want a free voice."  

-"I am at a loss  

And I want a free land."  

-"If we unite and explore,  

There will be sorrow no more."  

-The vagabond looks  

This way and that way for nothing.  

The flowers are newly bloomed,  

The grasses are soaked with the jewels of spring.  

The freedom comes walking close  

So easily!?  

The mind becomes burden-less,  

Wonderful, wonderful

So easily!?  

Splashes of lake water;  

Mirth in heart's chamber.  

The horizon is put today  

Inside two eyes.  

The chirp of happy birds,  

The tune of happy flute,  

The hymn of young woman  

Are heard inside.  

The sight is of no control.  

The vagabond thinks, 'let it roll.'  

- "On this colourful day  

It will take us,  

Through the serpentine way  

To a little happy nest."  

-"In that nest there'll be light -

The light of our eyes.  

The soft and blue light."  

-"The free light, the open light,  

The moon light, the star light,  

The calm and the lost light  

of free taste."  

-"The joy, the free hope and

The free thoughts will come  

One after another doing good to us and  

It'll be the best."

-"Where are you free girl?  

Please spread out your hand.  

Let me touch and let me be  

Blessed in free land."

197. FANTASY OF ‘FREE’

     This was a poem written when he was studying in the institute. This poem described his mental state. He could not propose to Purabi because he was uncertain about his future. He moved away from his home town. He could not propose to his girlfriend too. So he was now looking for a girl, with whom he could talk and who was like him meaning she had a vagabond mind. So he was anticipating a meeting that could change his life completely. Since his childhood he was a thinker. Besides studies he used to do a lot of things like playing football, drawing, reading story books and a lot more things. Everything was stopped after leaving home. The city Kolkata took away everything from him in the name of struggle. The huge syllabi of the university, the fear of failing in the examination, and the pain of living away from his girlfriend made him completely inert about life. After 2001 his life was complete anathema to his childhood and teenage self. However, he was surviving in a way or other. The cinema institute gave some breathing space though. But it was very little compared to his childhood. So he was imagining an encounter with a girl of his type.

198. THE POEM ‘FIRE’

The fire is inside me, the fire is my spell.

I feel like playing with the fire.

I have waves of joy in my smile, light in my eyes.

The body is full of mind blowing warmth.

That’s why I am arrogant, I don’t care.

With hard feet I trample on the old.

Who will stop me; let me hear who will stop me?

The dream is calling me from the sky.

That’s why I walk ahead without looking back.

Let the free mind rush to me seeing me there.

I’ll no longer keep anything hidden in my heart.

Like a kite I’ll shout underneath the blue.

199. FANTASY OF ‘FIRE’

      Again this was a poem written by him on her behalf and thus for all young adolescent girls, who wanted to shout out and show off. It happened in the puberty. The nascent sexuality drove young girls toward attention. Some of them became attention seekers. This poem just described their mentality at a glance. Her girlfriend was also one of them. As described before she fled with a handsome guy to explore her sexuality as she probably did not get it from him. But later her family managed to bring her back to normalcy. He felt jealous obviously. But later he realised that she expected something from him, which he did not understand. He would realise it much later, when he grew up and there was distance between them. But anyway this was a real story. So she would not wait in reality. And he would keep on struggling for a better job. And both of them would part away in the course of time. Neither was it a fairy tale nor were the cheap movies that she loved to watch. So in reality she might get a happy family. But he would not get it so easily.

200. THE POEM ‘I’LL BE PRIMEVAL’

I’ll be primeval, I’ll be mad, I’ll be savage today.

Under the moon in the silent night take away my attire.

I’ll roll on the grass; I’ll sink into the blue water.

I’ll only call you forgetting all staffs.

The sound of falling leaves, the obscure darkness-

Only you and I and our bond of the warmth

Will bring in the ultimate moment and the night of limitless joy.

The calm mind will be unstable and the unstable will become mad.

The moonbeam will fall on the wet body time and again.

With the touch of joy, suave light, it’ll bind the body.

That body will remain waiting for you.

With its nude touch your heart will be filled with joy.

I can’t wait anymore, please come close to me

With heart, mind, body in make-upless make-up.

201. FANTASY OF ‘I’LL BE PRIMEVAL’

    This was again a poem that showed his love for the nature. The primal life of human civilization was attracting him. He wanted to run away from the daily life. He wanted her touch. So he was imagining the pure beauty under the sky and into the blue. The moonlit night attracted him. The green grass attracted him.  With all these he was creating a space where the pure love would happen. He wanted to cherish the feelings of heart and body together. So he was offering her his pure nudity. Now it was time for her to come close with her primal charm.

202. THE POEM ‘WITH THE DREAM’

I’m the soma-hearted, soma-minded, soma- meditating yogi –

The consumer of heart, soul, soma and dream.

My joy lies in consuming the heart in addition with soma.

Where to get a space for mind and the day-night of the joy.

Dreaming a lot, travelling more, I’ve come in the end.

Time and again I’ve fallen in love with the soul and soma.

Yet, where it gets stuck with what nobody knows.

Everywhere the shyness drags me behind.

The dreamy-dense-diffracted mind comes down suddenly

Smeared with the dissatisfaction of heavenly wild joy.

Yet, the mind does not hear, don’t know why, can’t get it properly.

Only I fill my empty heart with the dream.

203. FANTASY OF ‘WITH THE DREAM’

    He was totally driven by materialistic philosophy. So he was mocking at the so called spirituality that was nothing but an illusion to get rid of the real desire. He simply thought that if he had desire, he should have worked to achieve it. But the norms of the society were stopping him from achieving that. The illusion of spiritual philosophies was nothing but redundant garbage of the society since no man could ever claim that he never masturbated. So this was where the soul and soma were related. So he wanted to give a damn to yoga, meditation and other methods that prepare the mind not to achieve the desire. He felt that his mind should have worked toward the desire. To him it was all fine until he was not hurting anyone. Having sex was not a taboo for him; of course it had to be consensual. But old monks of the society did not understand it. He believed in playing games, doing physical exercises but yoga. So he was calling him a soma-meditating yogi, which was an oxymoron phrase indeed. He was mocking at the idea of meditation and yoga, indeed.

204. THE POEM ‘WARMTH’

What starts with seeing, becomes ultimate with friction.

So every mind lives the life while the body burns.

Urban, rustic, wild, civilized get fused in the same joy.

Without warmth living is not possible for this life.

It’s beyond-beauty illusion, a unique sensation.

To express it in words is simply a mad’s job.

With the touch between the bodies, it gets aroused.

It makes the weary body wet in warm love sap.

In birth, thought, dream, sleep the silent warmth

Arouse the eagerness to live time and again.

At spring night on the bed in primal fusion

The warmth writes the bond with flawless rules.

So,

Why to live with machines, spells and cults

Only if you get fused in joy, you’ll understand.

205. FANTASY OF ‘WARMTH’

   After writing so many poems about sexuality, now he was feeling that it could never be expressed in words. So the puberty driven sexuality was telling him that there was nothing more important than to have sex at a spring night. And all the people, be it rustic or urban, could never escape this enigma of desire. That was simply mind blowing to experience sex. But it was again not possible for the norms of the society. So he was writing this poem.

206. THE POEM ‘BODY’

In the eyeballs there’s the well adorned thunder spark.

In the lips there’s the instigation of happiness.

On the shaved cheeks there’s the assurance of softness.

To fill it with happiness, the warmth is calling.

In the high and wide shoulders, there’s the wave of peace.

On the upper body with the muscles the dream talks.

On the two chests the lungs move up and down.

Afterward there’s the wavelike smooth desire.

Within this there’s an immobile silent hole.

Its soundless call is severely savage.

With limitless addiction  the thin waist is bound.

In the shameless lower part there’s the enigma of hips.

The call of fire-spring by the valor with the infallible supernatural

Is staying all alone at the same place silently.

With a little touch of warmth it wakes up.

And the impatient woman gets the sheer thrill.

Along the healthy thigh, the beauty of muscles -

To touch them the fairy is always eager.

So, in severe heat at the call of fire, the eyeballs are stable.

The heaven of joy, where will you flee without touching it?

207. FANTASY OF ‘BODY’

     This was again a poem he was writing on behalf of his girlfriend. He wanted to explore her fantasy. Thus he was writing a description of the body of a man. He was now delving into the fantasy of a woman. This poem was about how girls want to see a man. It was an abstract poem about the body of a man. That was quite interesting for him. It started with his girlfriend’s psychology. But the poem became universal. One might recall the Vitruvian man of Da Vinci. But he wrote it in his puberty much before knowing about the Vitruvian man. In fact it was an abstract poem, not as direct an approach as Leonardo drew it. However, critics could say anything. But he wrote it to explore the fantasy of his girlfriend. Later he would also write about the body of a woman.

208. THE PHONE CALL

      The weather was sunny here. He was busy writing the draft. After finishing the poem ‘Body’, he took a bath. Then he prepared the breakfast and had it with coffee.

     He did not expect it. But Stella phoned him.

-        Hi

-        Good morning.

-        Good evening.

-        What’s up?

-        Working on the draft.

-        That’s great.

-        Actually I’m impatient to read it.

-        Wait for a few more days.

-        Okay.

-        Actually this section was tougher than the ‘Grey Diary’.

-        I know.

-        How do you know?

-        My translator told me that.

-        Yes. So it’ll take some time.

-        Okay.

-        What’s happening in California?

-        Nothing new, situation is quite complicated now.

-        Why?

-        Because of lockdown.

-        Yes that I know. But is there any new development?

-        Yes, each and every person is being tested here.

-        That’s nice.

-        Yes. But life is getting boring.

-        Yes true. Don’t worry, everything will be alright soon.

-        Hope so. What’s happening in India?

-        Home ministry relaxed the lockdown from today.

-        That’s great. So you can shop now.

-        Yes, but not at malls.

-        Okay.

-        Yes, only the local shops will be open with restrictions.

-        That’s nice.

-        Yes, I’ll go for shopping soon.

-        You should.

-        Yes.

-        Could you please send me the draft?

-        Yes, but the ‘uncovered’ section has not been completed yet.

-        Don’t worry. Take some rest. I’m feeling bored in here.

-        Okay. I’ll send it soon.

-        Just send it now. I am crazy to know about your explicit fantasies (smile).

-        Okay. As you wish.

-        Okay. I’ll get back to you soon after reading the draft.

-        Okay.

-        Till then you take rest.

-        Okay.

-        Good night.

-        Bye.

Stella cut the line. He sent the draft to her. After two days, she phoned him in the morning.

-        Hi

-        Yes, I was just awaiting your call.

-        I know.

-        Have you read it?

-        Yes, it’s fantastic. I just loved it. You really have the guts.

-        Thanks.

-        It’s gonna be a path breaking work, I’m telling you.

-        I always try to be unique.

-        I know your life is unique.

-        Are you going to make a movie out of it?

-        Yes that’s the real purpose.

-        That’ll be great.

-        And you will act in this movie.

-        I’ll decide that.

-        No I insist.

-        But I’m fat and bald now.

-        Don’t worry. Try to reduce your weight and rest of the things could be worked out.

-        It’ll not look realistic.

-        It’ll.

-        Okay. Who will direct the movie then?

-        You.

-        How is it possible?

-        You know better than me.

-        Okay, I’ll devise a plan since you insist.

-        That’s better.

-        Okay.

-        But finish the draft first.

-        Yes, that has to be done at any cost.

-        Cost is my headache. You just keep working on it.

-        Okay, thanks.

-        How is your family?

-        All good.

-        Nice.

-        Good night.

-        Bye.

209. THE POEM ‘FAIRY TALES’

These norms rules bonds appear to be intolerable.

Whatever we want, we’ll do. We have no restraint, fear.

If I wish I will fly in the sky.

If we wish we will get fused secretly.

Wish is natural to me and the blood is mad.

I’ll write the fairy tales of life anew.

210. FANTASY OF ‘FAIRY TALES’

    This was again a poem about his hidden desire. He wanted to run away with her in a secret place and have sex. But he was restrained by the society. He was predicting that he would write the fairy tales anew since the fairy tales that people read so far did not have a realistic approach. They were simply full of fantasies to become princess and prince. But the conclusion of these fairy tales was always a happy ending, which was quite against the real life. Actually he was predicting that he would write Orange sooner or later. That’s the fairy tale of today.

211. THE POEM ‘IN SCANTY ATTIRE’

On the nude body a little darkness and littlest clothes –

Today, the definition of beauty is in the mould of mini and micro.

Anew, in new make-up, in new fun

The primal joy smiles through the scanty attire.

The blue sky, wild green, or the colour of fire,

Whatever the styles of the designer’s smart cut,

It’ll hit the market with success with its appeal.

Ah, in the scanty cloth there lies the pure happiness.

Scanty dress, scanty shape, but yet not scanty.

On the breast it takes care of the fire of illusion.

Sometimes it’s mysterious, sometimes it’s mad.

Looking at a glance, the heart gets mad.

When the cleavage between soft joys start on warm breast,

It binds him suddenly midway –

The duo joys get more and more mysterious,

The mad heart with eager eyes sees without speech.

If it drops from the shoulder a bit,

If the cloth moves a little bit on the soft breasts,

Forgetting the argument, brawl, huff, esteem

Beggars, pseudos, honests, dishonests – all rush in.

In the night in solitary room, with you my love,

While diving into the ocean of love I also wish that

In arm-amunition-clotheless scanty attire,

Let me see you at a happy night sitting by there.

212. FANTASY OF ‘IN SCANTY ATTIRE’

     This was a fantasy that every man had. He was a voracious reader. He used to read anything that was there in front of him. He used to collect the sensual photos of celebrities from news papers and magazines. He had a diary, where he used to paste them. In this poem he was discarding the idea of pornography by Picaso, since he was getting pleasure out of watching the celebrities in scanty attires. So now his young mind was being crazy to see his girlfriend in scanty attire. It was just an ordinary fantasy that every young man had. Later he would realise that it was not an easy task to make a good pornography though since sex was a transient in the average daily routine of life. So it was certainly not easy to deal with the transient and make a good piece of cinema out of it so easily. There was a huge chance to get shocked by the transient. However, he wanted to see his girlfriend in scanty attire.

213. THE POEM ‘HOT AND SOFT’

Hot hot wish of

Soft soft youth –

With this there is the unsaid

Heart’s beating.

The bodyful of sparks

Look for heap of explosives.

In the wait of explosion

The heart is silent.

The pure explosion

Has no fear of sin.

In the warm river

Let the tide and forbidden

Storm come.

214. FANTASY OF ‘HOT AND SOFT’

    He was feeling the urge again. So he was awaiting an explosion. It was his desire to have sex with his girlfriend that was getting stopped time and again because of the norms of the society. So he was simply comparing his urge with the sparks and the ecstasy with the explosion.

215. THE POEM ‘MAKE-UP TALK’

Flying the hair, arrogant, trembling the red lips

I walk the way I want. The flood of the youth

Flows on the soft body with the warmth.

Looking at that thousand eyes talk about me.

At waist the jeans stops after a slip,

After the showy top the navel peeps through.

I walk with firm steps like a horse.

After every step there is the smooth soil beneath.

Swinging the clothes, I walk with a different gait,

When I wear sari, see-through, of the colour of my wish.

The colour of shoes matches with the transparent sari.

The obscure body comes up at the night of joy.

On Saturday at calm night nobody can stop me.

Just below the waist slipping a bit the make-up ends.

On smooth thighs there comes the flood of soft light.

I dance leaving all the senses of holiness or sin.

On the sea-shore, when I run in dremolluison,

I flaunt all my beauty behind the touch of a bikini.

I play with my love in the water of sun set.

I become unstable, when the night arrives.

Ultimate, soft and hot, the attires of my night –

I put make-up on my darling as I want to do.

After that the creator knows what the state of my love is.

My beauty is the result of curd, sandal and cucumber.

Eye liner, mascara, body lotion,

Lipstick, massage oil, foundation,

With all these I have my world amidst the family works

I always look for a better self as I want.

216. FANTASY OF ‘MAKE-UP TALK’

     Again this was a poem written on behalf of her girl friend. He belonged to a middle class family. She belonged to a middle class family. And both of them have fantasies that were discussed so far. Now he was writing the fantasy of her girlfriend about make-up. Every girl liked to wear make-up as her girlfriend did. So he wanted to write poem regarding all the young girls, who loved to feel a bit arrogant, a bit confident after wearing the make-up. This poem was basically a result of reading the section, where the tips about how to look better used to be published, of a typical commercial news paper as he was facing problems with pimples. His acnes made him worried about his look. He did not understand that was quite natural in puberty especially for the boys and girls with oily skins. So he started reading about cosmetic and herbal treatments for skin along with fashion. Thus this poem came into play.

217. THE POEM ‘SOMA’

Those enchanting eyes are filled with dreams.

The blood red lips are smeared with cry and smile.

Stable voice, sweet tune, suave soft body –

Even in the dream, seeing them the mind wants to rush in.

About those stormy breasts, what’s the mystery?

Thinking that time passes, there is no laziness.

The hot-soft-mango-like frozen two joys –

With touch, love, beauty they fulfill the desire of a man.

In the land of light, the soft suave plane

Has got the mine of beauty along the space.

In the waist there flows the stream of thin river.

With the touch of it the sagacity of the old becomes silent and immobile.

The fire lies there within the mysterious chasm.

Along the mind and heart from body to body it binds the society.

For the trembling thighs and the weight of the hips

Ages after ages the mankind feels febrile.

The soft, supple, wet, suave, light danger -

With this rhyme the limbs of her are kept in order.

218. FANTASY OF ‘SOMA’

     After the poem ‘Body’, he was now describing the female body, achieving what is his fantasy, of her girlfriend. So as a result he was writing this poem on behalf of the race of men, who always dreams to have sex with a perfect female body. This was an abstract description of a female body. He was also warning that if one delves too much into the soma of a woman, it might become fatal. But nothing wrong in writing poems about her, painting her picture, marrying her or even having sex with her in case it was consensual. Everything is okay. But it could be dangerous to handle a bimbo. That’s all what he wanted to say.

219. THE POEM ‘AT THE NIGHT OF JOY’

Let all the sorrows go away

At the night of joy.

Let the rain fall along the body

Now and today.

Let it soak all the limbs

Of yours and mine.

With the wet make-up

We’ll mate.

The night will wake up.

220. FANTASY OF ‘AT THE NIGHT OF JOY’

   This was again a dream to mate with his girlfriend in a rainy day. He was trying to conceive a perfect place an environment for their sex to happen. But he could not do it since he was an introvert in nature. He could write pages after pages, but he could not tell his girlfriend that he wanted to have it with her. He was often very unsure about the conclusion of their love as fairy tales did not exist in reality. He could not remember exactly when he wrote the poem. But it was still showing that he was feeling upset. Whenever he was upset, he would write something to cheer him up. Thus he wanted to create a space and time that would be conducive to their mating.

To be continued ...

[doeeyeddyke]

Some ‘The Namesake’ (Jhumpa Lahiri) Cheat Notes

Characters:

Gogol (Nikhil) Ganguli -  The novel’s primary protagonist. Gogol is an obedient, inquisitive, and sensitive child, close to his parents and sister. The novel tracks Gogol’s growth from child into young man. This growth includes changing his name, to Nikhil, and the gradual discovery of architecture as a career. Gogol navigates, over time, his relationship to his parents’ identity, as Bengalis in America. He also tries to forge his own identity, as a Bengali-American child born in the US. At the close of the novel, Gogol begins reading Nikolai Gogol, his namesake, as a way of getting closer to his deceased father, who adored the writer.

Ashima Ganguli -  Another of the novel’s protagonists. Ashima, at the beginning of the novel, does not make choices so much as she accepts the choices of others. Her parents arrange her marriage to Ashoke, and out of duty she follows him to cold, desolate-seeming Boston. She grows to love her husband, and, later, her son Gogol and daughter Sonia. But for years, Ashima misses her family in Calcutta and yearns desperately for her old life there. Only after many years, and following her husband’s death while away in Ohio, does Ashima realize that the Boston area is her home, and that she is surrounded by friends and a surrogate family there.

Ashoke Ganguli -  The third of the novel’s protagonists. Ashoke is a quiet, sensitive man, and although the narrator does not have access to many of his thoughts, he is nevertheless devoted to his wife and children. Ashoke is also deeply affected by the train accident that nearly killed him in his youth. He gives his son the name Gogol as an acknowledgment of what that writer means to him. Nikolai Gogol and the other Russian writers are also emblems of “foreignness,” of a life lived in exile. This is the life Ashoke has chosen for himself, as a PhD student and then professor in the US, far from his family in Calcutta. Ashoke chose to set out for himself, in a place of his choosing, after the train accident solidified his resolve to see the world.

Sonia Ganguli -  The fourth member of the Ganguli family in Boston. Although the reader very rarely has access to Sonia’s thoughts, she is a constant, calming presence for the family. She goes to school and lives for a time in California, but after Ashoke’s death, Sonia returns to the Boston area, where she practices law and becomes engaged to a man named Ben. Sonia is a steadying presence for Ashima after Ashoke’s passing.

Moushumi -  Gogol’s wife. Moushumi knew Gogol when he was a young boy, and the two are set up on a blind date, in New York, by their parents. Moushumi is a graduate student in French literature and adores Paris. She also adores, in part, the cosmopolitan life she lived there, with a banker named Graham, who left her and broke her heart. Moushumi marries Gogol but, after a time, becomes restless in the marriage, and enjoys more and more the company of her intellectual friends. Moushumi begins an affair with Dimitri, an old acquaintance, and later she and Gogol divorce. Moushumi’s point of view is included, though not frequently, in the novel. We learn, for example, of the dissolution of Moushumi’s first engagement, to the American banker, via access to her own thoughts, although the narrator retains the third person in these sections.

Maxine Ratliff -  Gogol’s second serious girlfriend. Maxine and Gogol meet in New York, at a party. Maxine represents, for Gogol, a life very different from his own. She lives with her parents downtown, in a beautiful townhouse, and shares their intellectual, cosmopolitan life. Maxine does not always understand Gogol’s family’s traditions, but she tries to, and seems to care genuinely for him. After Ashoke’s death, Gogol pulls away from Maxine, leaving her out of the mourning ceremonies. They soon separate.

Ruth -  Nikhil’s first serious girlfriend. Gogol and Ruth meet on the train, from New Haven to Boston, heading back to their respective homes for a Thanksgiving break in college. They both attend Yale. They fall in love and spend about a year together, but Ruth then goes away to Oxford to study for a semester. After this, their relationship becomes strained, and they part.

Dimitri Desjardins -  an aimless academic, and Moushumi’s illicit lover. Dimitri met Moushumi when she was in high school and he was applying to PhD programs. Moushumi finds Dimitri’s information by change, and they begin an affair. Moushumi knows that her tryst with Dimitri is wrong, and that he is something of a slob and a dilettante. But this does not keep her from the affair.

Gerald And Lydia Ratliff -  Maxine’s parents. Wealthy and intellectually inclined, Gerald and Lydia open their home to Nikhil, whom they seem to admire. They are comfortable in their world of New York society, and though they are kind to Gogol, he never quite feels a part of their circle.

Donald And Astrid -  Moushumi’s intellectual friends in Brooklyn. Donald and Astrid are, in Nikhil’s mind, the kind of people who find their own choices to be the only correct ones. Although Donald and Astrid seem open and liberal, they are in fact quite set in their ways. Nikhil is frustrated by what he views as their selfishness.

Graham -  Moushumi’s ex-fiancé. A banker in Paris, Graham, an American, moves back to America with Moushumi, and they plan a life together. But Moushumi realizes that Graham has reservations about the traditions that come with marrying a Bengali-American, and they break up.

Ghosh -  a businessman Ashoke meets on his ill-fated train ride. Ghost tells Ashoke that living abroad is important for any young man. Ghosh himself lived in England until his wife made him return to India. Ghosh tells Ashoke to visit him at his home during the train ride, but Ashoke never has the chance, as Ghosh is killed in the wreck.

Ashima’s Father -  an illustrator in Calcutta. Ashima’s father dies in Chapter 2, as the family is preparing to return to India to visit. His death is very difficult for Ashima, who feels distant from her family.

Ashima’s Grandmother -  given the ceremonial job of naming Gogol. Ashima’s grandmother suffers a stroke early in the novel, in Calcutta, and though she mails a letter with Gogol’s “official” name in it, the letter never arrives. She dies soon after.

The Nandis And Dr. Gupta -  Bengali friends of Ashoke’s and Ashima’s in Cambridge. These three visit the Gangulis in the hospital in Cambridge, after Gogol is born.

Alan And Judy -  Ashoke and Ashima’s neighbors in Cambridge. Alan and Judy are free-spirits and liberals, and though Ashoke and Ashima find them nice and compassionate to live near, they are also confused by the informality of Alan and Judy’s lives, and by the cavalier way in which Alan and Judy raise and keep track of their children.

Symbols:

Trains - Trains appear again and again in Lahiri’s novel, and twice a train accident plays a significant role in the story. The first is the devastating accident in Ashoke’s past, which he barely survives, and the second is when an unknown person commits suicide on the tracks of a train that is carrying Gogol home from Yale. The presence of trains in the novel seems to be a reminder of the constant and inevitable forward motion of life, which advances and accumulates outside of anyone’s control, as Gogol reflects at the end of the novel. It is on a train that Gogol meets Ruth, and on a train that he discovers Moushumi’s affair. Trains also represent motion, travel, and distance, and are a reminder that the novel’s main characters are divided between homes, constantly unsettled.

Graves - In a few moments in the novel, Gogol thinks with longing of the idea of a grave—a place that will bear his legacy into the future, and give him or his family a permanent physical anchor in space. In reality, he knows they will never have such a grave, since in the Hindu tradition their bodies will be cremated. Gogol is first struck by this desire on a fieldtrip to a graveyard of early American settlers, whose odd names give him a sense of kinship with these early immigrants. The feeling reoccurs when he sees the Ratliff’s family graveyard and pictures Maxine returning to this place to bury her parents.

Tone:

Sympathetic 

"And yet the familiarity that had once drawn her to him has begun to keep her at bay. Though she knows it's not his fault, she can't help but associate him, at times, with a sense of resignation, with the very life she has resisted, has struggled so mightily to leave behind." (9.17) 

Moushomi could have been written off as an evil hag after cheating on Gogol but the way the story is written prevents us from viewing her as such; her story is written kindly and we're brought close to her, which allows us to understand her.

Quotes:

"You remind me of everything that followed." (Ashoke)

This is the answer to Gogol's question, "Do I remind you of that night?" Ashoke has just revealed to Gogol why he chose that name for him: because the collection of short stories by Nikolai Gogol had allowed him to be identified by rescue workers after the train crash that nearly killed him. This answer draws attention to the tension between life and death; from an accident that nearly cost him his life, his father has emerged and wants to be reminded of the new life he created in his son by giving him the name Gogol.

"It wasn't me." (Gogol)

Gogol gives this explanation to his high school friends after he shares his first kiss with Kim at a college party. When Kim asks him what his name is, he can't imagine telling her it's Gogol - he identifies Gogol as the type of person who could never kiss a girl. Therefore, he tells her his name is Nikhil, and then he has the confidence to kiss her. Later, when he himself is in college, he will permanently change his name to Nikhil and gain confidence with women as a result.

"Gogol frowns, and his lower lip trembles. Only then, forced at six months to confront his destiny, does he begin to cry." (2.71)

At six months, Gogol is already refusing to participate in traditional Indian rituals. He's not ready to confront his destiny, and for much of the book, we wonder if he ever will be.

"He is afraid to be Nikhil, someone he doesn't know. Who doesn't know him […] It's a part of growing up, they tell him, of being a Bengali." (3.19)

In kindergarten, Gogol tries on a new, more formal name – and doesn't like it one bit, even though having a pet name and a formal name is Bengali custom. What's interesting here is that he thinks changing his name just might change his identity. He'll become a different person.

Literary Elements:

Imagery Imagery is the use of a profuse amount of description to help create an image  in our minds. This is used many times in this book, given that a lot of what takes up the book is description of what happens throughout Gogol’s life along with that of his family’s.  In fact, it is even used in the first page. Describing the home of Ashima and Ashoke, saying:

“She stares blankly at the pegboard behind the countertop where her cooking utensils hang, all slightly coated with grease. She wipes sweat from her face with the free end of her sari. Her swollen feet ache against speckled gray linoleum.”

With just a few sentences, the author has already created a picture in the mind of the readers, giving a great example of imagery.

Allusion Allusion is basically a reference to another well-known person, piece of writing, etc. An example of this in the novel is the multiple references to Nikolai Gogol throughout the entire novel. He was a Russian author, whom Gogol was named after, his name being a recurring issue throughout the book. There is a scene in which Gogol’s father, Ashoke, gives him a book called The Short Stories of Nikolai Gogol, a book by the Russian author

[yasbxxgie]

Satire and Subversion in Ishmael Reed’s “Conjugating Hindi”

Back in the 1800s, South Asian men arrived in the United States as peddlers or seamen. According to historian Vivek Bald in Bengali Harlem and the Lost Histories of South Asian America, they were single, and instead of creating enclaves of their own, they assimilated and married into Black and Puerto Rican communities in areas like Harlem and New Orleans. The fluidity between Black American and South Asian American communities didn’t disappear, but continued into the Jim Crow era, when some Black Americans put on turbans and pretended to be Indian to avoid harassment. Some used exotica to sell the illusion, and at that time of pre-yoga, when people knew even less about South Asians than they know now, the ruse worked. People could not tell the difference between Black people and the people identified as “Hindoos.”

Due to the United States’s immigration laws and policies, over the last several decades, professional Indians have become much more visible to the mainstream than working-class South Asian immigrants had previously been. Their collective economic success in the United States has been used to produce the harmful model minority myth, a myth that aggressively omits the numerous structural factors that have conferred advantages on members of this group: caste, class privilege, Brahmin and other upper-caste networks in America, India’s affirmative action laws, socialism built into India’s constitution, and learning English due to India’s prior status as a British colony. Although many Indian Americans subscribe to the model minority myth, Indian Americans as a bloc have been reliable Democratic voters for decades, and there are notable Democratic politicians with South Asian ancestry such as Kamala Harris and Pramila Jayapal. But more recently, several Indian Americans have risen to prominence under an anti-Black, anti-immigrant, far-right agenda (much to the mortification and embarrassment of their progressive counterparts who have set up a Desi Wall of Shame): Dinesh D’Souza, Nikki Haley, Ajit Pai, Raj Shah, Seema Verma, Dimple Shah, and Shalli Kumar.

The history of affinities and tensions between Black and Indian communities in America, as well as how White conservatives and liberals have exploited Indian immigrants over the last few decades to justify and produce further discrimination against Black communities, sets the foundation for Ishmael Reed’s ingenious, razor-sharp, seriocomic novel Conjugating Hindi, published by Dalkey Archive Press. Like other Reed novels, Conjugating Hindi is not only a novel, but is also a graphic novel, heavily illustrated with provocative hand-drawn cartoons. In the novel, you can see the aforementioned history upended and satirized for the Trump era.

***

“California is still the world’s biggest hideout,” the novel begins. Peter Bowman, or “Boa,” is a Black professional who is fleeing something from his past. He moves to North Oakland, where he teaches at a community college and explores the gentrified city. After taking an early retirement, Boa becomes a public intellectual and is invited to debate with a right-wing Hindu “intellectual” egomaniac Shashi Paramara on the subject of “Was Slavery All That Bad?” The Columbia Speakers Bureau tells him: “There’s an opportunity for you to make some more money. You’ll be able to break out of the Black History Month ghetto.” Boa mentally notes that the event, like Oakland, was being “gentrified” by non-Black people. Facing a tax audit, Boa needs the money offered for the debates, and reluctantly participates. Shashi argues that slavery wasn’t that bad, and is received with open arms and adulation by self-serving White right-wingers. Boa argues the opposite, standing in as a kind of straw man, and is ignored by Shashi, as well as the rest of the audience.

Shashi has a radical sister, Kala, a professor of Post-Colonialist Studies, with ink-black skin and who doesn’t fit in with her Brahmin family. She believes English is an imperialist language and demands that only Hindi be spoken in India. Boa is immediately intrigued, but his young Black chauffeur warns him off: “Indians can be as racist toward Black people as Whites. Some have called them the most racist people in the world. Not only do they hate Blacks but they have problems with the darker members of their own families. You got mobs beating African students…”

Boa worries, “A new bunch of racists coming into the country adding to the ones who are already here?” The chauffeur tells him that to Shashi and his Brahmin entourage, “[Y]ou’re a Dalit. An Untouchable.” Boa assumes this is ridiculous, citing Gandhi, but this gets him thinking, and he goes down the rabbit hole of learning Hindi (hence, the title) and exploring literature about South Asia.

Political tensions escalate. Eventually during one debate, the moderator announces that India just shot down an American passenger plane. The conservatives who had been nodding along with Shashi call him an Indian N-word and try to beat him up. He’s rescued by security. Meanwhile, Boa is rescued by Kala, who pulls up on a Harley and drives him home before heading off to her host’s home in the Berkeley Hills (her host is a Black woman whose best-selling memoir is entitled My Triple Oppression). Before she leaves, Boa asks how the mob missed her, and she responds that White Americans are always mixing her up with a Black person, that being Black doesn’t work in India, but in the United States it comes in handy for her. Boa is baffled.

The plane incident triggers all-too-believable xenophobic and racist mayhem. Indians wearing traditional clothing are dragged off BART. Indians bus from Silicon Valley to the San Jose airport and face racist insults. Mobs start hunting Indians. A Fugitive Indian Law is debated in Congress. Shashi comes to Boa, asking to hide out in his place, dressed like a “hip-hopper” in order to avoid being harassed. Boa agrees to let him stay, a shrewd callback to how South Asian peddlers sought and received refuge with Black and Puerto Rican communities in the 19th century.

The novel goes heavy into informal debate at this juncture, with Boa eventually confronting Shashi on his anti-Blackness (which Boa comes to recognize also as a kind of self-loathing and determined refusal to face facts regarding the British Empire). In his satirical rendition of the informal debates between Shashi and Boa, Reed nails the Dinesh D’Souzian failure to comprehend basic historical facts about both America and India. He sketches Shashi as both a naïve innocent and opportunist. The novel turns at points into a graphic sex comedy, with sex itself as another kind of border crossing — for really, how else could Boa communicate deeply with someone as obtuse as Shashi? The debates and sex comedy give rise to action, and then to tragic climax. The denouement genuinely satisfies.

In a reprisal of Reed’s Blues City: A Walk in Oakland, former mayor Jerry Brown is given a tongue-lashing in Conjugating Hindi for the “ethnic cleansing” and gentrification of Oakland that he believes has transformed it into a “hipster playground.” This serves as a symbol for the gentrification of Black History Month as well. The novel is more descriptive than Mumbo Jumbo, not only of Oakland scenes, but also of Boa’s internal landscape, which is shaped by academic texts and movies. Blended into factual material are fictions — the president at the time of the novel is “Kleiner Fuhrer,” for instance. In the kind of self-referential and darkly hilarious note also found in brilliant novelist Percival Everett’s work, Ishmael Reed himself makes appearances as a character throughout the novel. Also appearing is Chappie Puttbutt — Reed’s fictional Black literary critic who sides with whomever he can to get tenure in Reed’s 1993 novel Japanese by Spring (one of Chappie’s books is entitled What If I Prefer Beethoven Over Coltrane?).

***

Conjugating Hindi is a further exploration of Reed’s alternative Black aesthetic of Neo-HooDoo, informed by bricolage and jazz improvisation. It is not quite as poetic or gnostic as Reed’s 1972 masterpiece Mumbo Jumbo, but it is brilliant — the same sort of experimental brilliance observable in the fiction of Thomas Pynchon or the cut-up technique of William S. Burroughs — and more accessible. It hews to the satiric register of Reed’s Japanese By Spring and Juice.

The novel is what some academics have dubbed a trickster text, a text informed by the mischievous, shape-shifting, slippery figure of the trickster, found in folklore throughout the world. Implicit in Reed’s formal style, as well as his content, is the trickster disregard for caste of any kind. Heedless of boundaries and resistant to being pinned down or hemmed in, the novel is driven almost entirely by Reed’s deep, free-wheeling curiosity about why things are the way they are in regard to the use of the model minority myth against Black communities.

Reed’s incorporation of caste into the fictional debate between Boa and Shashi is fascinating and insightful — he understands the rigidity and cruelty of the caste system far better than many American writers and critics, who assume caste is a relic of the past or synonymous with class, rather than something far more insidious. This remains a set identity that a Hindu possesses from birth, describing his degree of “purity” or “pollution,” and consequently his entitlement to respect, as well as a script for social relations, including arranged marriages. There are moments where Reed brings his exploration of caste and race together in a way that felt a touch too pat, binding together a little too neatly anti-Blackness with the Brahmin identity of Indian immigrants assimilating into the far right. Hinduism can be fairly described as heterogeneous and protean and it does have trickster-like figures such as Krishna or the mohini, but the Brahminical mindset is a strongly anti-trickster perspective, and so those with this mindset could find equally appealing certain strains of center-left thought that push rigid identity, scripted social relations, and endogamy. In any case, by novel’s end, Reed’s novel surprises and delights and for the most part, he takes every opportunity to be artistically more subversive, more slant, more true.

The most famous Dalit intellectual of all time, B. R. Ambedkar wrote in The Untouchables,

It must be recognized that the selfish interest of a person or of the class to which he belongs always acts as an internal limitation which regulates the direction of his intellect. […] A Voltaire among the Brahmins would be a positive danger to the maintenance of a civilisation which is contrived to maintain Brahmanic supremacy. […] If any non-Brahmin were to make such an attempt the Brahmin scholars would engage in a conspiracy of silence, take no notice of him, condemn him outright on some flimsy grounds or dub his work useless.

This is an observation that holds true in the Indian-American diaspora, too. So far, nobody in the United States is publishing any Voltaire-like satires of caste and race by a Dalit American or a non-Brahmin Indian American, but this bold and memorable novel by a brilliant Black author is the next best thing.

Conjugating Hindi is a firebrand’s novel, the crackling, overflowing, pugnacious novel of someone who doesn’t care about genre boundaries any more than he cares about historical boundaries, but who does care deeply about innovating. In an interview with Callaloo that was conducted in 1988 at Reed’s home, Reed commented:

Well, Afro-American artists have always had to struggle against the middle-class. […] I mean when you write the truth, sometimes the black middle class complains or the white right wing will complain or the left wing will complain. […] I think most Afro-American artists catch it from all sides. I think most ethnic artists catch it from all sides.

As the United States’s ideals come under increasing attack, we need more flame-throwers like septuagenarian Ishmael Reed — more fighters, more tricksters, more eagle-eyed observers with an incendiary spirit, more dazzlingly original artist-writers — willing to defy what is permissible to say, willing to catch it on all sides, and willing to run over boundaries of all kinds into genuinely new or neglected territory.