another end...

 Another year ends and it ends quite differently. The Shantiniketan trip marked the ending ceremony...and perhaps the Hyderabad one would brighten the opening festival..I ended with traveling and am starting the new one with it too..hope to travel more this year ...so that again when I m on my chair on this day of the next year writing my year end post,with no other thought i can tag 2011 as a "traveling" year.....

 no looking back to the past...just wanna look forward..forward..forward.....

                                    HAPPY NEW YEAR  to one and all

In quest for peace--a visit to Shantiniketan

"Bolpur-Shantiniketan station a aapnaake swagato janai (welcome to Bolpur Shantiniketan station)" was one of the first sounds which entered my muffler-ed ears while struggling to set foot on the platform amidst the buzz of the crowd. Everybody was trying to get down first. The  train journey  was hectic but it was the kooo-jhik-jhik of the train had kept me occupied for all the 1 and 1/2hour from Bardhaman station. The trains here are still run by diesel engine. The two parallel railway lines lay side by side without being tangled and overshadowed by the electric poles and wires..its a different sight..different from the present day railway lines,in our cities,even towns and metros..

As one enters the town,one can see Tagore almost everywhere...'kaviguru' is a name used almost everywhere.Kaviguru restaurant, Kaviguru cyclemart, Kaviguru vastralay...the list is endless..to my surprise i was even eating Kaviguru fruit cake for breakfast..

    

The main reason behind my visit was the 'poush mela',which attracts thousands of tourists from across the world. I also got a chance to visit the place..and thanks to my room mate Suparna who invited me for this escape from the daily drudgery.

 Shantiniketan campus was a different place altogether.even with the thousand of tourists,it retained its shanti(which i had not expected,after my experience at the railway station).surrounded by trees,trees,trees,more trees,more & more trees,of every species..but mind you it didn't look like a jungle...it was different..with light and shades playing together,the game of chess..red muddy road,taking curve here and there,Baul song at the background,feel of Tagore everywhere..perhaps this very different atmosphere itself made Tagore think differently...

Walking by the red soiled roads among the trees,i found a new meaning to the word 'shanti'..the two day trip brought my sun burnt brain to peace. a place worth a visit..specially at this time of year..

Bookm@rk

5:30 in the evening. she had to shut the novel halfway coz she had to hurry her way to the computer class. she started searching for the deep red bookmark to mark the pages she read last. it was her favorite one but had not used it for long. she had forgotten where she had kept it. perhaps it was lost. she herself did not know why she was searching it in this peak hour when she had to move. she kept on searching ....drawers,boxes,suitcases,even old jars and baskets..suddenly she chanced to gaze upon a shoe box,wrapped in purple shiny colour paper and tied with a red ribbon.

she knew what all was there inside...birthday cards,new year cards,handmade invitations for birthdays & parties,friendship bands, Mohr's salt wrapped in butter paper(which they had prepared in the chemistry lab,& which was labled by their teacher as the best one and the perfect one),balloons,a steel pendant & some hand made ornaments and a diary with a lots & lots & lots of colourful stickers...mickey,Minnie,pooh,Flintstones,Dexter,trigger and many more.

she could see the bright red bookmark,inside the diary,they had crafted it.she(pat),Papit & Riput (nicknames of the trio).she opened the page with the bookmark and everything woke up in her mind.

their high school days,their friendship,their loud laughter at nights,the tiffin time sharing,the pajama party before their scattering . she could see PARI digged in different fonts on the school bench,behind copies,inside text books & files and on the steel pendant which Papit had brought for the three of them....PARI(hindi for angel).. stood for PA-Pat, Papit..RI-Riput(these names were also crafted by themselves keeping similarity with their original ones).. their real names had  less significance..not more than mere names on the attendance register and on certificates....they were PARI.

now names have significance.the angel is no more white,no more serene,no more heavenly.perhaps PARI lost her way. memories were here,there,everywhere..

she found her bookmark back,the deep red bookmark.the bookmark which perhaps marked the existence of the memories of PARI.

PARI still lives..........in some hearts....