Dark Green.

Mother looked down at him proudly. 

He was standing on his own. Swaying, but standing.  

Hard and quick footsteps thudded. 

They crushed him and went up to Mother.  

Tearfully, she bowed and tended to her son’s killer.


The traveler had found shade. 

Black Bewitched

Enchanting is the black pupil, our window to life;
Majestic are the black clouds where the rains are rife.
Success is the black caps thrown up and afar;
Wild are the black nails strumming the guitar.
Dapper is the black suit waiting for the bride;
Somber is the black dress taking death in its stride. 
Gleaming is the black Mont Blanc signing his name;
Intense is the black at the heart of a flame. 
Black is a mystery, tough to decipher;
Here are the five black things I desire.

 

1. Black Nose

I lost my pet dog a few months back and of all the things I miss about him, what I miss most is his little black nose. It was this little wet fellow who nudged me every morning to wake me up. It was this wonder that would sniff at the door even before I could walk up the stairs. It was this mischievous one who could smell out a yummy snack waiting for him in my bag. It was this anxious little thing that would go hide under the pillow when I opened my bottle of nail paint. He was a life within a life. The sheer impossibility of fulfilling my desire to get back this little black companion is probably why I gave it the number one place in my list of black desires. 

Cold Comfort.

2. Black Beauty Spot

Right from when I saw Cindy Crawford in the advertisement for Omega, I have always longed for a beauty spot like hers just above the lips. Then my baby sister was born and voila!  She had a tiny black dot on the upper left side of her lip. Initially she used to be very irritated by it and wanted to pull it out. But now that she is a gorgeous teenager, the spot only adds to her charm and she knows she has an asset. The little black marvel is definitely a showstopper. Keats was right when he wrote “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.” Oh well, there is always a next time.  I hope the artist up there is listening! 

'Dot'ing Sister.

3. Black Sky Ceiling

Every girl dreams of having a picture perfect house. So do I. From a Heidi-esque cottage on the hills to a white mansion overlooking the seaside, from a palatial bungalow in a remote district of Bengal to a posh apartment at the Beverly Hills - Over the years, the mental vision I’ve had of my house has changed many forms. However one thing has remained constant and that is the desire of falling asleep under the sky. Yes, I have always wanted a ceiling mural of the deep black night sky littered with a thousand glimmering specks. That way I can fly away to the stars whenever I want. : ) 

Starry Slumber.
(Picture Courtesy: Internet)

4. Black Lix

This is the most expensive item on my list and undoubtedly, the most awe-invoking. The Lix is a black 3D pen that can create rigid and free standing structures. It gets charged via a USB port and can melt plastic filaments to generate a liquid plastic ink that cools and solidifies rapidly to give rigidity to a line as it is drawn. So if you use this pen to draw a glass on a piece of paper, the drawing will not be on the body of the paper, rather the glass will stand on the paper much like its real counterpart. The Lix uses air as its canvas, electricity as its brush and makes stunning black creations. Indeed, it is a dream come true for doodlers like me! 

That's how it works.
(Picture Courtesy: Internet)

5. Black Rose

Of all the black things that amaze me, nothing captivates me more than a black rose. It appears mystique and has an irresistible aura. I have seen them in movies and books, on cards and t-shirts, but never in reality. I have always imagined them to be large, very very large sans the thorns and with the petals having a velvety texture. I know it is the red rose that is the embodiment of love however a proposal with a solitary black rose shouldn’t be rejected because black represents strength and commitment and more importantly it represents the perseverance of the person who took the effort of finding you this rare black beauty.

Magnetism.
(Picture Courtesy: Internet)

This contest is a part of #WhatTheBlack activity at BlogAdda.com

Tech One.

Who doesn’t love a Smartphone? I’d be lying if I say I don’t. It has become a dominant way of life. What’s a day in 2014 without touch scrolling down the Facebook news feed and liking a post or two on the way? Just a few days ago, I was going through the headlines on my Times of India application, when I came across an interesting piece. It spoke about a 10.5 km Wi-Fi zone in Rajarhat, New Town. It was going to be a first in the country that will enable a large number of businessmen and IT officials to avail this connectivity while commuting on that stretch. It made me wonder, is technology like Pinocchio’s nose? Will it never stop growing? 

I still remember the first Nokia phone I owned. It was a no camera, monochromatic phone with butterfly buttons. It had six ringtones and two games (I still maintain that Snake is the best game I have ever played). Two years later, after a respectable score in one of the semesters, my mother presented to me, a Nokia 3550. It was jet black and shiny. It even took pictures and allowed me to Google. For many days after that, the phone couldn’t escape my clutches, even in slumber. A few more years down the line, QWERTY became a fad, and I proudly owned the Golden Matte Nokia E72, expressing great alarm at how people could still manage to type with a phone keyboard. Little did I know then, that soon I would be an outcast owing to the fact that my phone had buttons. Pat, came my fourth phone, or to be precise my first Smartphone, the Sony Xperia P. It gave me a parallel virtual life where I could play the piano, refer to the Indian Penal Code, 1860, buy discount coupons, make music, find restaurants, book tickets, feed my pet cat, translate English to Bengali, maintain my expenses, check the mirror to smooth my hair… the list is endless. I can almost feel it breathing in my pocket, demanding to be fed every few hours and sometimes shoving some major attitude by being stubbornly inoperative.  

Gone are the days when a hostel-ite had to wait in queue to call home from the sole landline. With Skype on your desktop, meals, happiness and sorrows can be shared with equal ease - homesickness has gone down by several notches. 3.7 frames/second. That’s how fast my DSLR fires. On a particular weekend trip, I took 500+ shots capturing into a memory every moment spent there.  When my mother is shopping, she Whatsapp’s me the images of the two bags she wants me to choose from, thus removing the hassle of a second visit.  Have a crush on someone? The only thing you need to know is his/her number/Facebook ID. And thus shall begin your online courtship. Once, I saw a girl taking a picture of the number plate of a taxi. On being asked, she said she would upload the photo using the Kolkata Police Application, so that requisite action could be taken against the driver for refusing service. In the mood for a particular song or movie? Entertainment is now live and in the air. Just type in the name and it will appear in your Downloads Folder in no time. The latest Smartphone of Samsung allows one to check their pulse rate. Just Dial is the new Yellow Pages, Google is the new encyclopaedia. Quick and easy are our new middle names. Indeed, technology has silently sniffed its way into every nook and corner of our existence. 

Yesterday, my friend texted me saying that she had something important to tell. When I asked her what, she replied “Meet korle details bolbo, e bhabe bolle tor reactions gulo dekhte parbo na” Her words hit me and it made me think. Does the hostel-ite of today experience that crazy craving for home? Has he ever felt the all-troubles-being-washed-away moment when you hear your Mum’s voice at the end of the day? Did the 36 photo reel camera make us value every photograph even more? Do we miss waiting eagerly for the photographs to be delivered in the paper envelope? Have we forgotten how blessed it feels when one surprises you with a gift and also gives you the receipt in case you want to exchange? Are we becoming our own doctors? Do we feel sad when we see the cassette shelf collecting dust? Do you remember your excitement when your family took a trip to the VCD parlour and you were allowed to bring your favourite movie home? Do we wish we belonged to a time, when love meant building up the courage to face her and say it and then boldly bearing the brunt in case of a rejection? Are we not savouring in the hurry to swallow? Some questions are best left unanswered. 

Those who say that the technological revolution happening in India is much required, probably have valid reasons to say so. But for me, this revolution should have taken place after certain standards were met and certain parameters fulfilled. When we epitomize the developed nations and their fast moving environment and strive for their urbanized commodities, we are probably overlooking the basic difference between our bedrocks. What is the use of technology in a nation like ours, whose majority is malnourished, impoverished and illiterate? Wouldn’t it be like painting a broken pot? After all, a key ingredient of technological growth is the knowledge of resourcefully using the same. Given the wavering foundation on which we have built our dome of digital development, are the chances of its misuse increased? Unfortunately this question is very much answered in the affirmative. The lower strata of the society may not have food in their stomach or money in their pockets, but most definitely they have a phone in their hand. Apart from basic communication requirements, the phone is also a source of their carnal satisfaction thanks to the percolation of the internet in even the most basic of handsets. How often is it that you were walking in your locality, and you saw a group of paara chyangras all huddled around a phone?  I am sure they weren’t watching cartoons with such glee. I am also sure that coupled with a drink or two, what their depraved minds desired could ravish the life of another. But wait. Why should I say the lower strata? Wasn’t a member of the Parliament caught enjoying porn when he should have been deliberating on issues that affect the nation? Don’t qualified professionals commit data theft? Doesn’t that college boy morph pictures of the girl who refused him? Even the very literate have corrupt intentions of abusing technology. I do not want to sound like a cynic, but I strongly believe that there are much graver issues to be resolved before focusing on e-expansion. It is somewhat like giving a knife and fork to an ape before he has evolved into a human. Would you blame him if he chose to use it as a weapon rather than cutlery? 

A friend once said, ebaar dekhbi emon ekta app aasbe jekhane khabar ta dekhle I pet bhore jaabe”. Although said as a joke, the thought was scary. Are we moving away from the real world? Birthday wishes have been reduced from cards, to emails, to phone calls, to text messages to Whatsapp to not remembering at all. I think we can safely say that our fingers talk more than our mouth. Yes, I won’t deny that there are moments when technology makes me smile. One evening, my mother informed me with childlike happiness that she had found her best friend from school on Facebook after 30 long years and they were planning a reunion soon. Her words lighted up my eyes and made my day. It was like the silver lining of a dark looming cloud. Whether technology is a bane or boon, is something everyone will have a different answer to, but for now I just have two things to say: To you, the administrators of my state, there are remote places that don’t have permanent roads till date, try connecting them properly, I assure you it will be stronger than the proposed Wi-Fi connection and to you, my reader, the next time you meet a person you love, hug them tight right away, and let the tiny virtual black hearts take a backseat for the time being.

Grimly Gay (Picture Courtesy: Internet)

এক মুঠো ছোটবেলা

"না মেঘা, ওই জামা টার জন্য ৬০০ টাকা বড্ড বেশি", ঠোট উল্টে মেঘা দোকানের টুলের ওপরে গিয়ে বসল। "এই দেখ, এটা কত সুন্দর..নিবি?", মা জিজ্ঞেস করল, "তোমার যেটা ইচ্ছে নাও", বিরক্তি সহকারে জবাব এল। আড়ঁ চোখে সে দেখে নিল তার মা কোন জামা টা পছন্দ করেছিল। সাদার ওপর ক্ষুদে ক্ষুদে গোলাপি ফুলের ছাপ। পেছনে বাধার বেল্ট টা পুরো গোলাপি। এত বড় হয়ে টিপিকাল মেয়েদের ফ্রক? বুকের জায়গা তে হানি কম্ব করা। কোমরের নিচ থেকে কিছু টা ঘের ও রয়েছে। মা যখন তাকে প্যাকেট টা দিল, সে টুক করে জামার গায়ে প্রাইস ট্যাগ টা দেখে নিল। ৩২৫ টাকা।

মা বাবা সব সময় তাকে পয়সার মূল্য শেখাতে চাইতেন। কিন্তু তার ১০ বছরের মন কি সেটা মানে? টাকা তো খরচা করার জন্যই তৈরি, তাহলে কিসের এত দ্বিধা? মেঘার গোমড়া মুখ টা দেখে মা গোলাপি সুতো দিয়ে জামার এক কোনায় তার নাম টা সেলাই করে দিল। ছোটবেলা থেকেই মেঘা সাজ গোজ এর পোকা। মা'র অনুপস্থিতি তে লিপ্সটিক পরা, চুলে খোপার কাটা লাগানো, আর তার প্রিয় লাল সোনালি ওড়না কে শাড়ি করে পেঁচিয়ে "ফুলে ফুলে ঢলে ঢলে" তে নৃত্য। টিপ টা অবশ্য ওপরের তাকে থাকত বলে সে বাধ্য হয়ে স্কেচ পেন দিয়ে কাজ চালাত। "বড় হয়ে কি হতে চাও বাবু ?", এই প্রশ্নে গাদা গুচ্ছের ডাক্তার, টিচার, অভিনেত্রী শোনা যেত, কিন্তু মেঘার এক্টাই উত্তর ছিল, "এমন কিছু করব যাতে দাম না দেখেই সব কিনতে পারি"।

সেই দিনের আজ ১৭ বছর হল। মেঘা শহরের এক নামী দামী পত্রিকার এডিটার হিসেবে চাকরি করে। বিস্তারিত ভাবে উল্লেখ না করে এই টুকু বলা যথেষ্ট যে তার ১০ বছর বয়সের স্বপ্ন আজ সম্পূর্ণ। মা বাবার গাড়ি থেকে শুরু করে তার ওয়াক ইন ক্লসেট, বছরে দুবার বেড়াতে যাওয়া থেকে তার নতুন সোনার চিক, মেঘা যত টা বিলাসপ্রিয় ততটাই খরুচে। তিন মাসের মাথায়ে তার বিয়ে। মারাত্মক এলাহি ভাবে সব আয়জন চলছে। বাড়ির ছাদে গায়ে হলুদ, মেহেন্দি ও নাচ গানের জন্য হল ভাড়া, আর ৫ স্টার এ বিয়ে রিসেপসন দুটই। পাচঁ টা উপলক্ষে পাচঁ টা পোশাক। মেঘার সব কেনা কাটা ও ব্যবস্থা শেষ, শুধু বিয়ের বেনারসি টা বাকি। সবচেয়ে ভালো জিনিস টা তো সবচেয়ে শেষেই হয়, তাই না? বাজেট ছিল ২০০০০ টাকা।

এক বুধবার দেখে মেঘা হাফ ডে নিয়ে বেরিয়ে পরল বেনারসির খোজে। প্রচুর দোকান বাজার ঘোরা হল, অনেক অসাধারন শাড়ি ও দেখা গেল, তবু ও তার মন ছুয়ে গেল এরম কিছু সে পেল না। তখন প্রায় পাচঁ টা বাজতে যায়। মা তাকে বলে দিয়েছিল যে দিন এর আলো ছাড়া শাড়ি টা না কিনতে, অন্ধকার হলে আসল রংটা বোঝা যায়ে না। হতাশ হয়ে সে গাড়িতে উঠল। বাড়ির কাছাকাছি যখন, মেঘা তাকে দেখতে পেয়ে থামল।

হাতে একটা ২ লিটার এর খালি কিন্লের্ বোতল, পা ফাকাঁ, চুল এলো মেলো, রাস্তার ধারে বসে সে জল ভরছিল। তবে মেঘার নজর শুধু একটা জিনিস এর উপর ছিল। ছোটবেলার এক দিন এর ছবি তার চোখের সামনে ভেসে উঠল। সপ্তমী দিন এর পূজো ছিল, মেঘা চোর হয়ে সোফার পেছনে লুকিয়ে। বাবাই, তার কাকার ছেলে কে আসতে দেখে সে পালাতে গেল, কিন্তু বাবাই লাফ দিয়ে তার জামা তে এমন টান মারল যে এক দিকের বেল্ট টা ছিঁড়ে তার হাথে চলে গিয়েছিল। বেল্ট টা গোলাপি রং এর ছিল। মেঘার ঘোর ভাঙল, সে ভুরু কুচকে দেখল। এখন গোলাপি টা সাদা হয়ে গেছে। কলের জলে ভেজা মাটিতে সে একলা একলা আপন মনে লুটোপুটি খাচ্ছে। গায়ের সাদা টা বেশ নীলচে, ফুল গুল প্রায় অদৃশ্য। বুক এর জায়গা তে প্রচুর ছেঁড়া সুতো। মেঘা মাথা নাড়িয়ে নিজের অস্বাভাবিক চিন্তা কে উড়িয়ে দিতে চাইল। কিন্তু তার মন রাজি হল না। মেয়েটির জল ভরা শেষ, সে উঠে দাঁড়ানো তে মেঘার চোখ আপনে আপ জামার নিচের বাঁদিকের কোণে চলে গেল। কয়েক্টা কালি মাখা গোলাপি সুতো যেন হেসে হাত নেড়ে তার নাম ধরে ডাকল - মেঘা।

মেঘা গাড়ী থেকে নেমে, অস্পষ্ট দৃশ্যে মেয়েটির দিকে এগিয়ে গেল... আধ্ ঘনটা পর সে বাড়ি ঢুকল, হাথের মুঠোতে তার ছোটবেলা কে ধরে, মুখে এক গাল হাসি। মূল্য দিয়ে প্রাপ্ত করা বটে, কিন্তু সেই জামার যদি আজ প্রাইস ট্যাগ থাকত, তাহলে মেঘার কাছে তার একটাই উপযুক্ত দাম হত - প্রাইসলেস। বেনারসিরর বাজেট এখন ১০০০০ টাকা।

(Picture Courtesy: Internet)