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| Pranab Ghosh |
[A novella (genre memoir) in free verse]
By Pranab Ghosh
[Part
1]
The fall...
Deadlier than death!
Life halted...
Time stood still
Lost to you
Forever!
What has been the
Count?
Well,
Who
Will
Tell?
Not me!
Not me!
Not me!
That much is for sure
As I lay immobile
Beyond the realm
Of senses...
The fall...
Not once
Not twice
But
Thrice
In a day...!
Two at a trot
In a gap of
Not more than
Half-an-hour
And the third?
Late in the evening
When sun was sleeping
In our land
And
Moon refused
To
Dream!
What about the stars?
Well, perhaps the
Little boy or the
Girl next door
Was looking at
Those and trying to
Figure out a missing
Tale that s/he was
Never told!
Never told!
Never told!
Even then
Imagination cannot be
Given a go by…
What if
Schools disappear
And teachers dismissed
From ‘service’ by
Decree of the court
On the ground of
‘Bribing’ your way
To a profession
...
Of
A
Teacher!!!
...
What country?
What imagination?
My fall was
Heavenly perhaps,
On a second thought
Though...
Compared to the
Dalit student’s suicide
Somewhere in our
Land, sacred and rich
In heritage and history!
Compared to the continual
Rape of the Dalits –
Hasrath*, Unnao* ... –
And the not-so-Dalits –
Sandeshkhali**, R G Kar** –
All in our land,
Sacred and rich
In heritage and history!
Compared to the land grab
Of the marginalized
Here, there, everywhere...
A process continual
In our land
Sacred and rich
In heritage and history!
My land was not
Grabbed at least!
But...
But...
But...
I had to sell it
At less than
Market price
A Forced
Distress
Sale
One
Required
To
Survive!
I survive.
At least,
In a broken home
Full of shattered dreams
Tattered letters
Jumbled words
And
Stinking emotions
I survive
At least
Trying to find
A
Pattern
A
Rhythm
Trying to find
Out the meaning
Of
The
Chaos
The chaotic
Situation
The
Cause
And
The
Effect
Theory fails
Education takes a backseat
And
Human emotions
Lie strangulated
Amidst
Ruins
Of
Greed
Of
The
Power-hungry,
Who have
Failed
Miserably
To
Quench
Thirst
And
Hunger of the
Teeming multitude,
Left to themselves
To fend for their
Cause
Their
Lives
And
Existence!
“What’re ‘you’ There
For?
Then?”
“How dare you?
“How dare you?
“How dare you?”
The gut to
Question the
Administration
The power in position
Burns, and living dead
You’re turned into...
A
Hungry
Angry
Soul!
Hunger!
Malnutrition!
Lack of resources
To keep yourself nourished
Hence the fall
Not once
Not twice
But Thrice!
In
A
Day!!!
But I manage to
“SURVIVE”.
[End
of Part 1. To continue...]
NB: * Places in Uttar Pradesh, an Indian
state where Dalit girls were brutalized,
** Places in West Bengal, an Indian state,
which became national headline for criminal atrocities, including rape and
murder, mostly against/of womenfolk
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