Kanchenjunga in the City

 

 

My old neighbour hobbled on the street,

‘Dadu, where are you headed?’

‘Need my ration of tea,

Do you want to accompany me?’

I did, but realised

He skipped all the stores

‘Where to? There’s Tata Gold right here?’

 

He waved his hand dismissively

‘Duur Boka!’

He hobbled, I followed on

Until some distance away

We stumbled to an old store

A creaking fan keeping summer away

And rows of small red boxes holding loose tea

 

‘You wanted this tea?’

I whispered, while the shopkeeper

Knowing his client too well

Already started packing

Dadu smiled.

‘Come here, smell ‘this’ tea’

I smelled, so what?

 

Dadu smiled, he knew us younger ones very well.

‘Now close your eyes,

Smell once more – and don’t forget

This is not tea, but Darjeeling,

It has no price tag,

Come come, close your eyes

And smell again.’

 

I smiled, as Dadu whispered

‘Smell the aroma, that is tannin

Blessed by the mighty Kanchenjunga

Can you sniff that alpenglow

Can you smell the delightful snow?

The blessings of the mountain gods

Given an earthly form for mortals, you ane me…’

 

I could distinctly see the Sleeping Buddha

Under His closed eyes

The bloom of emerald

Diffusing in the gardens of tea

A rickshaw honked by,

And I come back to Calcutta

Though a part of me is still lingering behind

 

As was this old man’s

Who had given away

Bits of his life to the faraway mountains

Sometimes desiring it back.

Sometimes showing us

Younger folks

Kanchenjunga in the city…

 

3^rd June 2026