Memories of Mahanagar

 

 This is my second anthology on Calcutta.

When I started on this poetic journey with the first, I had wondered if after all these days, there would be enough iridescence in the fountains of inspiration.

I surprised myself.

Perhaps because I had underestimated the strength of my own memories, but more importantly, the generosity of the city. For once you have walked in her dusty by-lanes, or wondered at the approaching monsoons from one of many cluttered terraces of the city, you have immediately exchanged a tiny sliver of yourself for riches that fail to diminish with time. It stays with you, but only when you choose to see it.

Like a tiny stream that reawakens after a spell of rains, if you choose to follow it, you will stumble upon an endless reservoir.

It is this reservoir that turns a mundane Mahanagar into a magical Manas Sarovar. And if you start pondering on its shores, you will be fascinated at its shimmering reflections – landmarks, old colonial vestiges, sacral shrines, and most importantly of people – every day’s masses, many of whom are still struggling to transition from yesterday’s stupor to tomorrow’s expeditious reality.  Yet, we all continue, bit by bit, the various cogs that move the metropolitan.

The depth of that reservoir is immense. The colours of those reflections, even when monochromatic, are fascinating. Those everyday colours and earthy scents have inspired me to keep writing this collection, sometimes with melancholy, other times with mirth.

I hope you enjoy these reflections in the following pages, marvel at the simplicity of every day’s Calcutta.

I hope you also realise how much we are ourselves unseen thespians at her podium, as much as we are also simultaneously the spectator, songwriter, sceptic, and sonneteer, all looking back into the bioscope of Calcutta…

September 2026

[INTRODUCTION to my anthology, 'Memories of Mahanagar - Vol. 02']