- RIGHT AND WRONG
Are we bothered about it anymore?
Small acts, idealism, fights, struggles,
Are we bothered any longer?
Do they really matter?
Yes, they do, they have to
A single act cannot dislodge what one feels
The timid sun’s ray does filter through
The seed breaks through the soil in a burst of green
Inspite of all disillusion, I find a reason to smile
I must find a reason to smile.
- LOSS
It is a usual, busy day by the river
People bathing at the ghat, praying by the river
Priests performing funeral obsequies
People dressed in white, hands folded
He utters mantras in a grave solemn tone
Paraphernalia all ready with him, he asks to do this and that
Mantras to be repeated, occasionally intersperses them with explanations
Explanations of how important the rites are
To me it was all over the moment the breath left the body
The living, breathing person, was no longer there
Just the still, lifeless body, a mere shadow of what had been
Present turning to past
I see a small boy, a boy six or seven
His teeth chattering, he must have had the obligatory dip in the river
His head tonsured, a reminder of the loss of a parent
An uncle asks him to stand in the sun as he was cold
The cold bothers him, he shivers for a while
The sun warms him up
His dear ones come and take him along
More rites and rituals to be done
He is too small to have seen all that, to have to go through all that
But then, rites and rituals are to be done.
The little boy standing in the sun, shivering
Still unaware of the fact that his life might be changed forever.
Dr. Nishi Pulugurtha is Head and Associate Professor in the department of English, Brahmananda Keshab Chandra College and has taught courses at West Bengal State University and Rabindra Bharati University. Her research areas are British Romantic literature, Postcolonial literature, Indian writing in English, literature of the diaspora and film. She is a creative writer and writes on travel, Alzheimer’s Disease, film, short stories and poetry. Her work has been published in The Statesman, Kolkata, in the anthology Tranquil Muse and online – Café Dissensus, Coldnoon, Queen Mob’s Tea House and Setu. She guest edited the June 2018 Issue of Café Dissensus on Travel.
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