The year is 2009. It is 5.30 in the evening; I am walking around the dingy lanes of Calcutta’s College Street doing research for a book. In this eastern sector of India the sun sets rather fast and I notice that the lights are just coming on, in different corners of the city like little fireflies, appearing as if from nowhere. I buy a ‘bhad’ (earthen pot) of tea and relax my back on the wall of a temporary book stall.
Somewhere down the lane, a music player bursts into action and blares out soft chants.. "Tum aaye to aya mujhe yaad.. gali mein aaj chand nikala..." a rather beautiful song from a Hindi film in the late 90s. Suddenly there is a soft rustle, a seemingly sudden excitement amongst the shopkeepers huddled around. They nudge each other, one looks at the watch. Amidst them an elderly gentleman wearing a grey T shirt and a track pants comes forward and places himself a bit ahead, just near the beginning of the lane, leaning against a makeshift shop, book in hand. I could sense something was happening or was about to happen. Suddenly I see a hand pulled rickshaw, slowly trudging and making its way in the crowded street. Seated on the rickshaw is a lady in a Burkha, her eyes darting left to right. As she crossed the small street I was part of, she bowed her head, her eyes downcast. A bit further on, she looks back from the now speeding up rickshaw; her hand holding back the fluttering of the veil, there’s a strange light dancing in her eyes, a smile even perhaps, or was it the light playing tricks?
As soon as the rickshaw was out of sight all the shopkeepers got back to their work, while the gentleman in the grey T shirt lingered a while and then came back to a stall where he sat down. Curious, I asked the shopkeeper on whose stall I rested my back, if I had missed an event. The shopkeeper smiled and pointed at the grey Tshirt gentleman and said “Dosh bochor, er bhalobasha” (love of ten years). With Betel stained lips, he told me little by little, how every Tuesday at 5:30 since the last ten years they had seen this sight. The romance of two people who had fallen in love so beautifully, that they simply refused to go. Belonging to different castes, they could not culminate their love into marriage but it did not stop them from loving each other through these years.
The story brought about a smile in me, in that crowded street full of men and women, there was one woman and one man who waited to see each other over the years, every Tuesday. There was nothing distinctly distinct about them that one might notice or that which would make them stand apart from the crowd. But that one face of the woman, her eyes and the small pouch of the gentleman, his hint of smile and his balding patch was something that was special to both of them only and for them it did not matter, whether anyone noticed or not, they were unto themselves in each other.
Is this what we call ‘The magic of love’ or is love blind?
"1 universe, 8 planets, 204 countries, 804 islands, 7 seas, 7 billion people and my heart still tells me it's you."
Is Valentine’s Day a reaffirmation of the fact that there is one special one for you, or with times is it more sensible to find love, as and where it is offered?..What say folks?
love is being able to let go...
and love and till you can do that.. you can never really love. Letting go of expectations, desires, wishes, demands and knowing love surpasses all of it and more...
Gonna share this on my page MB
Pritha
You don't get to choose, you just fall.
We all want to fall in love. Why? Because that experience makes us feel completely alive. Where every sense is heightened, every emotion is magnified, our everyday reality is shattered and we are flying into the heavens. It may only last a moment, and hour, an afternoon. But that doesn't diminish its value. Because we are left with memories that we treasure for the rest of our lives
Beautifully written
mithu.
tum aaye to aaya mujhe yaad...
a beautiful piece indeed maitreyee...
but isn't every day a day of love?
when one is in the initial euphoria.. every moment is pink ! of course the moments pan into hours, days ... and than years go by.. and we start wincing when we see pink ! till another day, when the hue arrives with all its shades again
it somehow so romantic to see each other only 1 day a week; an unattainable quest... and THEREFORE the romance.
Romance can definitely NOT survive the rigors of holy matrimony, seeing each other 7 days a week ! and a big HA to that.
loved your piece :)
A T M...
Love, Love, Love and then
I am 29 and still in search of love. There is still a dippy silly wish for the space to be filled. And I have found love when it is offered and had let it go when asked and again waited for the one special for me. There is an urge for some mutual attraction who eats-up all empty time and with whom you feel a connection. I take step on a layer that envelops the reality. I will keep on looking for the offered love to find the one special for me.
Because she had no-one, she wanted to be with everyone......
If that one heart says...then that is LOVE~~
And now coming on track, loved your narration, details and the flow. Gurl, you are indeed too romantic :)
Let us stop defining Love
Love is overrated!
What does it mean when I say I love you? Does it so easily, in a flicker, imply the whole plethora of all that is called Life? Or that which makes me think on nothing at all but still rendering an invariable feel that a whole world I am thinking about? Or is it a meditative dope that I simply cannot get used to with time so that the high I achieve every time declines to follow a marginal utility trend? Or that which in an amusing manner can start an unsaid fluttering inside the left part of my chest?
The answer is, please forgive me, I don’t know.
Love isn’t blind!
Well, I cannot comfortably comment on it. Less I shall say, and that is, love is like the bright eyes of an inquisitive child hiding behind the black shades of an old blind man, even holding a walking-stick in some cases, and saying all the time that it is blind but in reality is trying to watch it all. It sees whether the love it gives, is obediently coming back or not. It sees where else and in what ratio it is dissipating. And if it is dissipating, it ensures that it shouldn't.
The solution is, tap it surprisingly from the behind and you’ll know that those shades were fake.
Love is Trust, actually!
The first two stanzas must have made me look like a sore and dark person, who cannot stand the reality that love exists in this world, someone who with his sarcastic comparatives will always fall towards the negative side of perspectives and to cut the crap is nothing but a damn loser.
Agreed!
But here’s something more, just in case you need a food for thought.
It once happened that we kept on talking, like always, on topics ranging from bizarreness to rigmaroles, and I kept on looking into her eyes. I wouldn’t flow, I knew. So did she, and the talk continued. It went on for days, months and years. Time blessed us the togetherness and we made it to the hilt. We took it as it was. Never trying hard or never leaving it loose. We fought over petty issues. We made love in soared realizations. We laughed over nothingness. We cried in loneliness. And a day came when it had to happen. No, not love. Separation; it was the only answer. But till date we both are just trying to accept the answer in totality, which this Life has awarded us.
And now when I am writing this, I know a hell lot of time has passed and still a distance has hardly been covered. And I also know we won’t. As then we would defy our individuality itself, rule out the basic theorems of Life, and do something called breaking each other’s trust.
- Saikat Chakraborty (Bangalore)
A very descriptive narration
A very descriptive narration of how love knows no veils or barriers. The emotion of love is not something we can consciously cultivate or be sensible about. I can however relate to Valentine's Day being a day which reaffirms the feeling in today's generation albeit in a commercialized and materialistic manner . However, in my opinion love that exists in your characters is what it is all about.
It may not convert into a legalized institution of marriage at times but who can stop two hearts from throbbing together? The anticipation of seeing the eyes and smile of the loved one , the racing of heartbeats and the heart frothing with high emotions has to be felt to be understood.The world stands by to watch the episode- is it because of the curiousity that lingers in the hearts of the deprived or just plain sadistic behaviour mocking the sentiments of those truly blessed by love.. Overall a very touching collection of words that touched my heart.. keep it up dear!
Love is both a reality and an
Love is both a reality and an illusion. It works well both ways, simply because it gives happiness - and if there is sorrow to follow its of a very special kind....
Beautifully written piece.....
If you get a chance to read it, catch Graham Greene's Two Gentle People, a short story from May we borrow your Husband? Its a sweet story with the same ethos as your piece but with a heart-breaking twist....:-)
Sunil Bhandari
Love has no limits...
I am a strong believer in love...years are just mathematical counts of time, love for me does not live in these boundaries. It may sound poetic, but that what it is, senseless yet meaningful; limitless yet contained; endless yet so fulfilling. Everyone has a soul mate, just we do not use our eyes to look and when some times we do see, we do not use our courage to accept. Being marveled at such love is not really what should be done, instead hold it with esteem and pride to get to witness it. Loved it M.
How to know someone really in love!!
YES!! The year 2009 introduced Maitrayee to someone who really falls in love. Love is blind and that is the magic of the same. The gentleman in grey T-shirt(Tarzan-shirt) designated 'The Peace of love'. Burkha fairly fails to conceal 'The Love' while we have such a preeminent author like Maitrayee (frankly but candidly speaking). Everyday is 'V-Day' if there's 'LOVE'. I can instantly say, with times it is more sensible to find love...
Maitrayee,what an interesting piece and a delight to read. Your story captures the feel of first light and it seems the sun is not setting at 5:30 in the evening but it rises with full of romance. The scene portrays much of the street you are in. As your story ends in praise of love may I say my Amen and hope that the world can soon comprehend how neglected love has hitherto been. A fine post and thank you for sharing. Most wonderful sensation and truly enjoyable is this piece of yours...Nicely penned!! Regards!