hey there,

hey there, have you wondered, how the earth-voice sounds, about how clay-eyes look when they seek how the fluid-flows in seething river-ducts, hey there, how do loam-lips lick moist-kiss, how does the mist-flower wake at the touch of the sun-lakes, and hey, how do toe-slugs and finger-moths dance on the streams of star-flakes, how do thirst-tongues taste nectar-dew flecks, how do fairy-strands weave fire tales around the night-blaze, and hey, and hey, how, how does the magic-moon glow silver rainbow flames, how do rhododendrons nod their heads in dream-slumber in the mountain-air, hey, hey, how do you hear a velvet-melody throbbing in venus-veins of the wind-air far away, is it some-one in the flesh-folds of some green-valley playing a tender tune on his flame-flute, or is it just a froth-wind whispering sweet-somethings through the leaf-tresses of his forest-sprite, and hey, how does rain-moss caress fern-feathers, how do cloud-rivers waft over ribbons of rain-gloss, and, hey there, have you wondered about the motionless night waiting with life-breath stopped listening to the dribble-drip-drip of the dusk-storm hiding in heaven-clouds, and, and hey, have you wondered what the black-dove dreams, silver motionless spiralling sparking sparkling igniting passioning lilting lilac-wildfire whirlwind-imaginings, hey, hey, hey - hey there,

Yet I listen for your voice

I listen for your voice in the contorted brittle bones of the night illuminated by ages of wrinkled moon filtering through cloudy skin the face sputtering like a cotton wick in an emptying lamp spouting fumes of longings belongings percolating through the ether like flour shaken through a sieve kneaded into tensile dough. And each day arrives and departs fluttering like clouds of butterflies in long lost gardens of bloom. Every clump of raw earth like scarred stranded driftwood. And I suspended on the shredded stump of a nebulous umbilical cord winding through the words I conjure and strew through mile upon mile of silences. Of time rambling like the nomadic peregrinations of multihued gypsy tribes wandering across boundaries of memories. One day they are there setting up camp their cooking fires bubbling and steaming their naked children laughing and screaming. The next day they have disappeared without a trace only a few smouldering fires regurgitating ghosts of shadows. The sands slip through the narrow arteries of unmentioned unspoken ties where seas of heartbeats drown the shores. Stranded in this flimsy boat I row with mighty strokes only to feel the strong tug of invisible tethers that bind me to the shore. A shore filled with shattered shacks bloated bodies drowned in their sleep a cemented floor bereft of its walls and windows. The coastline being torn apart by acres of aching saltwater lagoons. Yet I listen for your voice.

A cry;

The dust obscures the luminous evening star; As the cows are driven home by Ananda the cowherd; Gobinda the village headman takes his daughter Aruna’s horoscope to the astrologer; To find a husband for her;

The trees dance and bend in bowers; She looks at him in wonder; He takes her by her hand and they wander; Aruna and Ananda; Through paths lit by crystal fires; Under a sky as tender; As a newborn flower; Quivering silver; In a monsoon shower;

The grass greets the rain with a green shiver; Of inflamed desire; The cicada calls its lover; With a prayer; Sung in a hoarse whisper; The frog croaks an entreaty into the thunder; The wind replies with a murmur; Of a rumour;

That the peacock is dancing with his tail unfurled in a blue-green shimmer; In the forest cover; And that the crows the jackals the wolves and the hyenas are struck dumb and silently gather; And hover in the shadows with the vultures; As the cloud banishes the hot summer; And the honey-bee plunders; A last mouthful of nectar; And while the hibiscus ponders; Aruna is wedded to Rajinder; The son of Gobinda’s neighbour; A caste brother;

The lightning rips the sky asunder; In the forest the dancing peacock falls into the jaws of dark hunters; And the crows the jackals the wolves the hyenas and the vultures feast on the peacock’s bloodied feathers; In the seething river the boat flounders; Pulling on its tether; And in the distance -- a cry lingers;

against the wind

sliding out from the smooth linen

of slumber – gliding out like a motor-less glider

through the woven fibres of tunnels

of remembrances

floating in slow motion

arms extended like a five fingered albatross

clutching stray cloudlets caught in the

jagged folds of craggy stone-tipped histories


strewn with bits of skin, flesh, a tuft of feather, a scrap of limb,

a gasping beak, desperately flailing wing

torn tattered, bleeding, impaled on thorn-flowers –


waking up to today’s tenacity

trying out new wings against the wind    

Seeking solace, peace in Suchitra Mitra

Suchitra Mitra and Hemant Kumar were the first voices I discovered and fell in love with in Tagore's music, which happened pretty late in my life - in my teens - considering that I am a Bengali, and considering that my father and mother listened to them, sang and hummed them ever since I can remember. I guess I was just deaf to this tender music before that.. also because I never lived in Bengal in my childhood days, where the influence of this music is so strong. For example, my mother and her sisters had to learn at least one Tagore song well, to sing when prospective grooms came to "see" them..

Anyway, thankfully, my mind and my heart and my soul did finally awaken, and I turn to them whenever my mind, my heart, my soul seeks gentle solace and peace, in life's lonely path.

Suchitra Mitra has remained my favourite voice, though I have discovered many more voices since those days of my teens..here are a few of her renditions:

VISWA JODA: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ7A1Ut0Oyw

ABAR ESECHE ASHAD: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nITh36oyiMU

megher pore megh jomechhey... Suchitra Mitra: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IYZ2FmCgZdM

Khelar Sathi Biday Dwar --- Suchitra Mitra: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1UUlFj9s5YU

NA HOI TOMAR - Suchitra Mitra: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lbikOSWFhl8

BAJRO MANIK - Suchitra Mitra: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KrwhEYNmC0k

Suchitra Mitra - Je raate mor duarguli: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RTQjDTkEhaw

tagore song : suchitra mitra & kanika banerjee: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6BEjGL8dHeI

suchitra mitra ; din guli more: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VEPNHabMwnU

Maran re tuhun mama Shyama saman.. Suchitra Mitra: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IK4GcRC77LQ

Tabu mone rekho...Suchitra Mitra: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uw-P6Bkxepc

Aachhe dukkho, aachhe mrityu...Suchitra Mitra: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nc3bBrC1No

JAKHAN PORBE NA MOR PAYER CHINHA Suchitra Mitra: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7khjN--OXqo

the hermit

it lives its life

wrapped in the

convoluted silk folds

of its mind

encapsulated by opaque bone

sometimes it pokes

an enquiring tongue

through its skull hole

to taste the world

and sharply recoils

at the bitter tang



a hermit creature

it permits none

other into

its hard shell

sometimes it extends

trembling fingers

to touch the

shifting sands

on which it stands

and sharply withdraws

at the stinging bite



it listens

well hidden

in its dark hole

to the song

of the waves

to the sound

of the wind

telling it stories

of a world

it never

knows

when she smiled

places she’s been to
walking over
plastic furniture
walking into blank walls
personal voices ringing
impersonally in her ears
speaking words
the meaning
lost in inanities
what insanity! --
with bold step, confident smile
strong of voice
she steps forth
though secretly her heart
sinks at the sound
of each foolish
blow that bruised
nevertheless
for she knew
in the secret
place in her heart
the falter she smothered
in her feet
the tremor
she concealed in her voice
the tremble she hid
in her hand - half outstretched
the fear she did not show
in the salt that stung her eyes
were hidden
in that secret
place in her heart
when she smiled…