Amalkanti
Some of us had dreamed of being teachers, others doctors or lawyers.
Amalkanti had never wanted to be any of those things.
He dreamed of becoming sunshine!
That shy light that paints the afternoons
When the rain ceases and crows call the evening close,
That light that lingers in boughs and leaves
like a slight smile upon the lips.
A few of us have become teachers, others doctors or lawyers.
Amalkanti could not become sunshine.
He now works in the darkness of a press.
Sometimes he comes to see me,
We drink tea and talk of unimportant stuff till he says, ‘I must be going’
I then see him off at the door.
The friend who is now a teacher,
Could have been a doctor if only he had wanted,
The one who had wanted to be a doctor,
would have done just as well as a lawyer.
So everyone got their wish after all, except for Amalkanti
He could not become sunshine.
The same Amalkanti, who once thought so much about the sun
That he had dreamed of being sunshine.
Some of us had dreamed of being teachers, others doctors or lawyers.
Amalkanti had never wanted to be any of those things.
He dreamed of becoming sunshine!
That shy light that paints the afternoons
When the rain ceases and crows call the evening close,
That light that lingers in boughs and leaves
like a slight smile upon the lips.
A few of us have become teachers, others doctors or lawyers.
Amalkanti could not become sunshine.
He now works in the darkness of a press.
Sometimes he comes to see me,
We drink tea and talk of unimportant stuff till he says, ‘I must be going’
I then see him off at the door.
The friend who is now a teacher,
Could have been a doctor if only he had wanted,
The one who had wanted to be a doctor,
would have done just as well as a lawyer.
So everyone got their wish after all, except for Amalkanti
He could not become sunshine.
The same Amalkanti, who once thought so much about the sun
That he had dreamed of being sunshine.
Excerpt, Amalkanti
Nirendranath Chakravarti
Ohoh0, Ruma, really very nice.
ReplyDeleteThanks, U love this poem!