Clouds in the valley...

  Around a turn, I stop – A massive billowing cloud Sparkles in the blue skies. Lost in my dreams, I tell myself: One day – I will turn thus But not find a cloud It will be a silver peak – Kanchenjunga, Nanda Devi, Machchpuchare The name matters not It will be a man and a massif Someday…   I close my eyes, Am I still here? Creating a future dream Or perhaps, I am already far This moment a living memory It is all a dream of thoughts Connected by threads of existence It is on these strands we walk And pretend to awake – I open my eyes: The clouds have turned to snow And man has turned to mountain…

  Like tear drops Rolling down, The Spanish moss Trickles too - Down branches and twigs Tendrils of longing Holding firmly To the tree of lost love   With time The tree is full Of the old man’s beard Its soul though Still drowns in melancholy As the moss Sobs silently But you and I just see growth – We claim, ah, the art of nature…   19 th March, 2026

  I stare at carved panels And wonder - Is this how Sanchi would look Trapped inside a hall? Two thousand years of history At least some have been preserved The surreal work of the Sungas A lost world carved in stone   But most people rush by - They don’t even know what these ruins are, Like any other debris Gathering dirt in a showcase But if you touch a piece of stone Perhaps the lotus, the wheel - You will get transported To the Bharhut of golden times   A large stupa, ornate gateways And the Buddha’s last remains - Maybe you can see its birth Piyadasi’s dreams, a Hellenistic touch; But careful - one wrong breath, Or a grumbling whisper And they all come crashing down; Bharhut reduced to ruins   But wait, do you see it? A reliquary left behind Its path hidden in these very rocks Breathing life, whispering the truth The treasure visible to those alone Who can touch the lotus blossoms Of a long-forgot...

  Winter’s Kolkata Full of restfulness On the Memorial’s greens; Some are active, Busy clicking - The marbled wonder Wrapped in Makrana, Victoria Memorial – our eastern Taj (The professionals seek its reflection In the Memorial tank)   But you fixate At the very top – The wings The trumpet, The laurel Ah, the Goddess of Victory You understand my curiosity ‘She alone was allowed To disturb the illusion of symmetry’ Angel wings moving with the wind   ‘But once in a while Even the goddess is stuck Against the whims of the universe’ I could see the angel reflected In your shimmering eyes ‘But she stays – Wings spread out, Ushering hope in the metro ’ Perhaps, the seraph smiles That only few of us can see…   14 th March, 2026   The Victoria Memorial in Kolkata was conceived after Queen Victoria’s death in 1901 by Lord Curzon, drawing inspiration from the Italian Renaissance style and the Taj Mahal. ...

At Rabindra Sarovar You wonder How is it, That this vast lake Has no sunset birds?   This expansive lake - With lily pads, lotus ponds - Yet no flock at dusk Perhaps they need no closure But I don’t voice my words   The sunset came and went Like ourselves - Blazing only to dim, Yet, those missing silhouettes Stirred your inner restlessness   In the dying yellow Of the skies You have given up When I smile And point up to the last of rays   And you stare Eyes wide open In disbelief Not one, but three Large ‘V’s of cormorants fly   All at once One above the other. Unlike me, my city succeeds As we silent fade In the last rays of a sunset sky…

  Toc-a-toc Toc-a-toc Toc-a-toc Mid-day’s heat: Somewhere, In the midst Of the city’s din If you pay attention You can hear Above the hawker’s cries Beyond the truant kids A coppersmith at work   Not bidriware But the barbet Tinkers an old dream Reminding faintly Beneath this veneer There is another city Of Mango trees A kingfisher in the shadows And Chatim’s delight, The sepia city seems to stare From an old photo left behind In a musty book from yesterday   But all of this Clouded by the gasoline Of tomorrow’s Kolkata Still shouting: Cholche na Cholbe na Receding softly If you sit up and listen To the coppersmith’s world, Awakening us anew Toc-a-toc Toc-a-toc Toc-a-toc… 12th March, 2026