Today is Rabindra Jayanti
and this brings back so many memories.
I was seven, when I thought
I had written my first poem.
It actually was just a line –
Robi tumi Kobi (Robi, you are a poet) – I did not know then, that I was just
stating the obvious, something the whole world already knew. My young brain
thought differently - How can people miss the rhyme? Rhyming is a key component
of poem.
I remember showing that line
to everyone in the family, fishing for compliments, particularly waiting for
appreciation from my father who had a great collection of Tagore’s music.
My father was a poet. I read
his ramblings.
After that one line, I had
written many more on different occasions. My family tolerated my scribbles
particularly the ones I wrote in colloquial Bengali. Tagore must have twisted
in his grave.
Honestly I was personally
not a big fan of my own poems though and soon realized when something disturbed
me I found poems as an easy outlet. That was it. So it was nothing profound for
the world – just a mental release. This arrangement worked well for many years
till I finally realized, I can try and weave stories which people can read and
like however I seriously do not quite have the depth for poems at all.
I and dad watched Mushairas
regularly. I attempted singing the songs from a Bengali Movie “Dadar Kirti”.
The point I am trying to make is we grew up with these little nothings around
Tagore, love for poems, his music, his life, his personality and looking for
meaning in poems of other languages – Hindi, Urdu and English.
This blog is not supposed to be a
diary entry with a long story on “Me” and my “Memories”. This blog has a
definite point to make.
I have quit corporate
roughly five years back and when I was asked today by a friend, “What are your
retirement plans?” I had to emphasize “I am retired”
Retired to do what, if one
may ask - to live
Do we even know while we are
busy making a living, something called life quietly passes
Why have your poems dried up?
Where are the stories and why are they lost?
Because the world is busy
earning their livelihood, without the faintest clue how much they need to live,
even if they live till ninety, even with medication requirements, even with
building contingency funds, even with annual vacations, even with
inflation, even with growing responsibilities.
Once we know that figure, we
can retire – mentally first, then physically or get ready for second innings,
more grandiose plans to leave legacy or work for greater good.
Here is one of Tagore's quote to remind you
You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water
If you think, the time is now to live, then pause, reflect, take charge, change directions, make critical lifestyle choices, manage priorities and give life a chance.
Can you do that merely by staring at the whirlwind called life?
Here is one more line from Tagore to get you to act
I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy
