Amar City Of Joy!

City Of Joy, the epithet itself enunciates the joy and love. Kolkata alias Calcutta is not only comprised of joy but is full of life, grandeur and glory. It is a place where people manages to listen the murmur of their heart despite difficulty, hardship and traffic congestion and relishes each morsel of their life. It is the city where people have fortitude to afford secrets of abundant happiness in penurious life.

This city has rightly been called the City Of Joy for the exuberance and vitality it exudes. The city itself has dwelled into joy and bustling colors with treasured history. From the journey of Calcutta to Kolkata on hand-pulled ricksaws and pondering trams nothing has changed. It still retains the glory of its old age custom, be it the antiquated british monuments or the constant passion in its people for life or macher jhol and mishti doi. Indubitably it is a hub for culture and cuisine.

It is the miraculous magic of the breeze at the busiest cantilever bridge build on the river Hooghly which has the power to blow away the harassment and encumbrance of a hours in just thirty seconds. It is the zeal and profound dedication in the blood of people which makes thousand of devotees to congregate at the temple gates every single day. The iconic Eden Garden is the best place to feel and watch the sport-fever on any proceeding match day. It is the spell of thousands of accumulated books in the College Street which enkindles wonder and enthusiasm in people. Nevertheless is much more to treasure than the verdure of Maidan and bustle of Burra Bazar, the beauty of Victoria Memorial, the liveliness of Park Street and fun of jaunting in Children’s cum Lover’s Park(the kolkatans knows it better) are among the speciality and unusualness of this city which people can never overlook.

The real heart of the city lies in its people who are not just more than factual but a bizarre for me. People here takes special pride in being a Bong and pride is something which they have in superabundance.  Unclouded emotions, getting flattered and provoked at smallest of things, God-like following for a person they love are some of the traits and idiosyncracies of the Bongs(reference to Sourav Ganguly aka Dada).

The thing I like most about this city is affordability. Here  every moment is equally enjoyed by a rich and a poor speacially Durga Puja. The magic of Puja is that all the passions of Bengal mingles- emotion, the warmth of being together, culture, the joy of celebration, and the adoration of the Goddess. Kolkata is the city of festival and here everyday is celebrated. Here Durga Puja is not just festival, it is much more than just worship. It is a time for shopping, gathering, dressing in their new and bestest attire ever, visiting pandals and eating appetizing and flavorsome food. The whole holy city, comes down from God out of heaven, prepared as a dazzling bride adorned for her husband. Beholding Durga Puja in Kolkata is a long-lasting memory to relish.

People says, Kolkata is congested, bedraggled and filled with boorish and weirdos but beyond shadow of a doubt  beneath the delusion and dirt, there is warmth and a special happiness among the kolkatans which no other bold and boisterous city like Delhi or tech-savvy city like Bangalore or tinseltown like Mumbai has.
                                                    ~ Sneha Singh

Morning Blues

It was a blue morning in the grip of mourning and pain. In a dark room I was engrossed in some nostalgic thoughts, waiting for the light of happiness. Suddenly I saw shaft of light coming from the window; I opened it to see outside, the Morning Blues came out of the blue as a stroke of good fortune. I saw the outside world is itself engulfed in misery and grief, I’m not sole, lone on the street. I was at some earlier stage of a journey that delivered me to another life, into another way of being.

I realized my sorrow and suffering are frivolous in comparison to a doomed child who is bound to live without his family; a family that don’t even have shed to shelter in the wintry nights and heavy rain. I realized my agony and weakness are momentary in comparison to them who are dwarfed, disabled, and blind; inside the surrounded walls of my home I felt more secure and safe than the victims of natural disaster. These mysterious realizations will ever remain elusive. These thoughts instilled in me an intense light of hope in the darkness. I felt really fortunate to have rays of light which grew larger and larger, until the darkness appeared to slip behind.

I always used to think that unpleasant occurrence and experience in life can often make life seem insipid but, today I realized these invariable trivialities of life greet us all in some or the other way not to shatter or break us but to mend and evolve. I learnt to look at the situation in a more cheerful light. Therefore, my Morning Blues turned into Morning Hues.

~Sneha Singh

In The Odyssey Of Life Change And Acceptance Are Requisite Lanes

Sit for a minute and look at the things around us, are we happy with them, or would we like things to change? We think about the people in our life, and ask if we are happy with, if not we would like them to change. We think about ourselves, and see if there are things we are dissatisfied with, we don’t like to change ourselves.                                                                

We want things to change, but we never try sitting out and thinking whether we can simply accept each one, as they are or not. We never try to accept each person in our life for who they are, but we accept ourselves for what we are, without the need for change.

There is an apothegm by Augusten Burroughs- “I like flaws and feel more comfortable around people who have them, I myself am made  entirely of flaws, stitched together.” It is frailty of the human blood that  we always try to spot/incur blemish in others and try to change them according to our accord and satisfaction, but when we peep into our inner soul we witness nothing is blemished  than it. Thus it is true that, “ we don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” Our vision becomes clear and awakens our mind only when we look into our own heart.

We are the creator and destroyer of our own peace and turmoil. In the process of looking and waiting for things to happen, things we could have easily created for themselves are completely lost. With every aspect of life, it is we who has to make it happen. When we have intent capability it does not matter how world treats us or how it is, at least we are in control of what we are. We can change ourselves for our betterment and we can do that while also being happy by accepting others for who actually they are. Great things are possible if we can change and accept as Change and Acceptance are great things in and of itself.
        ~Sneha Singh

NATURE~ THE PSYCHEDELIC BEAUTY

With the dropping of moonlight in the east

the sun is up in the west,

with blowing breeze and balmy birdsong

stream of sunlight fell from the clouds;

Trails the moony mind into a marvelous myth

beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

Taking flight across the sky

walking clouds obscure the sun,

resembles flock of feathered doves;

wings of cloud wakens the mind,

enkindles in it a fantasy blind.

                                                            

Breezes in serene air

to sweep away sorrow.

Heaving and rolling ship in the sweating sea,

alike balancing of dreams against

the duties in the sweating life.

To move human fallacy by scenic beauty

drops in heavenly heavy rain,

with the swiftness of stream and thundering sky

long pouring of rain washes away strain of heart.

The long sun wanes the slow moon climbs

to escape the fever and fret of mundane life.

Luminous moon walks among the twinkling stars,

and it keeps awake till the bustle of day returns.

With the end of dusk ends darkness,

a day, a dream to unbuild and arise again:

awaits a new morrow with a new journey to follow.

                                                                         ~Sneha Singh