On the Edge

Movie: Kinara
Released: 1977
Director: Gulzar
The Kolkata afternoons were slow, humid, heavy, like a pregnant woman getting breathless, dragging the burden of her new hope.

Right before vacation, Dad could manage to save some from his miniscule puja bonus and buy one or two long playing records. HMV puja specials! Few of those luxuries which my middle class Bong Dad relished while counting every penny when it came to replace his old pair of shoes. The ‘chappals’ had more nails than Christ himself!

Gulzar luckily missed The War of Isolation (tanhaai) and fear, but he wrote it alright some 43 yrs back.

Apni tanhaai kaa auro se na
Shikvaa karna
Tum akele hi nahin ho
Sabhi akele hai
Ye akelaa safar nahin guzaraa

At the age of eight, I could hardly understand what each of those ‘ornamented’ word meant.
‘They are as damn heavy and dull as this afternoon itself!’
The little me must have muttered to herself for ‘tanhai’..’safar’…and ‘shikvaa’

But Kishore Kumar kept on singing and I, at eight looked out through the cast iron grills of my tiny verandah, longing for the last whistle of the pressure cooker to blow, promising the red hot mutton curry with soft potatoes and hidden livers.

Letter to Myself During the Days of Corona – LnC Series by Piu Mahapatra

To all those little 8 yrs…below and above…quarantined, isolated with your family, which suddenly shrunk to one or two faces, let me whisper in your ears…my dear…
Wait for the last whistle to blow…
Wait for the steam to escape….
Let Kishore Kumar sing sad songs…
But you all…look to the front…there’s the promise of a feast in the front…together around the same plate.

(Artwork: Piu Mahapatra)

Click here to read more Letters to Myself During the Days of Corona every Saturday.😊

About the Author

Piu Mahapatra ( 42 Posts)

A painter, facilitator, and art consultant by profession, Piu never let go the opportunity to work around and along with the ‘Curious little George’ of different schools in India and abroad. Her articles on art education and awareness have been published in different contemporary art journals of India and Virginia for more than a decade. She loves to let her hair go down and often makes pathetic attempts to write poetry and short stories for children. The only thing she has ever done good is letting her son soar high and low with his wings open wide and fear-free.
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