Tripti Bay Area Rabindra Jayanti 2020 Celebration

Last weekend, the residents of Bay Area who originally hail from Tripura, and are now together in a group called Tripti (তৃপ্তি), organized a program to celebrate the birthday of Gurudeb Rabindranath Tagore. I had the honor of hosting it and contributing in my small way. Enjoy the performances if you can understand Bengali.

Betrayal

Last night, I dreamed of your betrayal again.
You smiled and kissed me
As you plunged a knife down my neck.
I saw myself die in your arms.
You laid my limp, bloody body on the dust,
Then kicked it to make sure I was done for good.
My tears woke me;
Brought me back
To a bleaker reality.

Why did you pretend to love me
When all you had in your heart was hatred?
How did you cover its putrid stench?
All the perfumes from Grasse
Could not have camouflaged it.
Maybe it was my love that blinded me.
When everyone asked me to be careful,
I threw my caution to the wind.
And embraced you anyway.

Now, I write poems about betrayal.
A sad, pathetic, needy, wannabe poet.
But no amount of self-loathing
Could have woken me up to this ugly truth-
We are all alone in our struggles,
There is no reason to think otherwise.
So, thank you my friend!
Your absence is a gift
I will treasure forever.

অভিসার

An exercise in vulnerability

Share your vulnerability. No games.

We feel so misunderstood so many times that we feel scared to share even a bit of ourselves with the world. Why don’t you write something on a piece of paper or in your diary and share it with me? In return, I will send something I have written. Could be a past entry.

No judgements. No comments. No editing grammar. Just two people being real with each other.

Send me a picture of your writing (this has to be handwritten) on messenger, WhatsApp or to thevariegatedsky@gmail.com. Looking forward to reading your entries. Thanks for playing along 😊

Pagla Saheber Kobor by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay

শীর্ষেন্দু মুখপাধ্যায়ের লেখা পাগলা সাহেবের কবর বইটি আমার কেন ভালো লেগেছিলো তার একটু আলোচনা 

শুভ নববর্ষ ১৪২৭

My father in law asked me to write something in Bengali and send it to him on the occasion of Bengali New Year

শুভ নববর্ষ
----------
আজ ভোরটা কত সুন্দর
মসীবর্ণ রাতের শেষে
আশার উদয় I

সবার মনে একই প্রার্থনা-
সবাই যেন সুস্থ থাকে
ভালো থাকে I

জগতের এমন মঙ্গল কামনা
মন থেকে শেষবার
কবে করেছিলাম আমরা?

বয়স যাই হক
আজ সত্যি আমাদের
জীবনের প্রথম নববর্ষ I

( Loosely translated:

What a beautiful dawn!
At the end of a coal-black night,
Hope rises again.

A prayer in every heart-
'Keep everyone safe
And healthy.'

When was the last time
We wished the world
So much good
With all our heart?

No matter our age
This is the first
(Bengali)New Year
For all of us.)

দেবী- হুমায়ূন আহমেদ/ Devi by Humayun Ahmed

"যখন মানুষের খুব প্রিয় কেউ তাকে অপছন্দ, অবহেলা কিংবা ঘৃণা করে তখন প্রথম প্রথম মানুষ খুব কষ্ট পায় এবং চায় যে সব ঠিক হয়ে যাক । কিছুদিন পর সে সেই প্রিয় ব্যক্তিকে ছাড়া থাকতে শিখে যায়। আর অনেকদিন পরে সে আগের চেয়েও অনেকবেশী খুশি থাকে যখন সে বুঝতে পারে যে কারো ভালবাসায় জীবনে অনেক কিছুই আসে যায় কিন্তু কারো অবহেলায় সত্যিই কিছু আসে যায় না।”