Writing is a quest, a journey, which flowers and flourishes on the pathways of silence. I welcome you to be a part of my quest, my journey as a poet and writer. I hope you enjoy it and it enriches your own quest and journey as a writer and as a human being.
Bhutan was about 65 km from where we stayed. Weekend trips to the beautiful hills and towns in the nearby Galephu / Gelegphu region were very common.
The joys of roaming around in green wilderness, playing, singing and dancing in the shades of huge trees and enjoying the delicious delicacies we used to carry from home were vivid in memories ....
There were some other scenic locations as well, in nearby hills, which were called the Bagheshwari Hills or the Bagha Hills.
Some tea gardens were also there near the BRPL Township in Bongaigaon, Assam where we resided.
There was a well-knit group of neighbour families from different locations all over India - like, those from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh .... staying together in the township. Far away from our home states, we used to often have such fun-filled weekend outings together.
Memories of Acquaintance with an elderly Sindhi Brother-Sister Duo travelling with us during a train journey ....
It was January, 1984. We were travelling by train from Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh to our home town Vadodara, in Gujarat. My brother and I were both school-going kids. We had to go from Vishakhapatnam to Mumbai, which takes about 30 hours and from Mumbai to Vadodara, which takes an overnight journey.
At Secunderabad, we were joined in our compartment by a gentleman and a lady, who we got know were siblings. The gentleman was elder. He must have been in his late fifties and his sister looked a couple of years younger to him. As it sometimes happens during train journeys, we co-passengers got introduced and little chats began. They were Sindhi by birth, residing in Hyderabad and were going to Pune.
Train journeys, for us kids, mainly meant sitting by the window, enjoying the swiftly moving beautiful views, and reading the books that we would get every time we undertook a train journey. We usually had long train journeys, so we got at least two books each per journey to keep ourselves busy and happy. We read in turns and were eager to finish reading them fast so that we could ask for more ....
I loved writing as well and during that journey I had penned this poem - Picnic. I showed it to my father and then to our co-passengers. Both were very happy, appreciating and encouraging me to keep writing ....
My brother has always been jovial and witty and like most brothers, he enjoyed teasing me. I was cute and talkative, as little girls are. The quips and counter-quips between my brother and me kept our little company amused.
We came to know that the elderly siblings were going to Pune to attend the funeral of their another sibling. They were both dressed in an indicative white attire and the lady had a teary, sad look in her bespectacled eyes, even as she lovingly smiled during our conversations - a smile that I still remember.
The more than twelve hours journey from Secunderabad to Pune got filled with fond affection of our co-passengers for us kids and friendly conversations between the elders. The elderly gentleman, as they were about to reach Pune, asked me to give him my notebook. He wrote a verse addressing my brother in it, which I still remember, even though my notebook got misplaced and is probably lost now, after so many years of handling between different places we stayed at. It said -
.... Tomorrow Will Be Today, Tomorrow, Who has ever seen Tomorrow .... ??!! .... .... Now, on hand, Ever slipping .... Make the most of it, To Make Tomorrow's Today Blest and Lit.
Who Has Ever Seen Tomorrow .... ??!!
Yesterday was tomorrow
The day before,
Today was tomorrow,
Yesterday,
Tomorrow will be today,
Tomorrow,
Who has ever seen
Tomorrow .... ??!!
Who has ever seen
Tomorrow .... ??!!
- Vanita Thakkar (23-03-2021)
Tomorrow's Today
The string of Time
Rolls on and on,
Gone, ever gone,
Coming, ever coming,
Now, on hand,
Ever slipping ....
Make the most of it,
To make
Tomorrow's Today
Blest and Lit.
- Vanita Thakkar (23-03-2021)
Reflections ....
Tomorrow is a dream, an aspiration, an uncertainty - that arouses many feelings including, hope, curiosity, inspiration, apprehension and so on. It is on the farther side of the flow of Time, always presenting itself as the present and moving on to become past .... What we have on hand is today - now - the present .... And a lo...ng trail of unchangeable past that keeps adding up every moment also has to be handled by learning, enjoying and obtaining strength and inspiration from the memories, letting go and moving ahead ....
- Vanita Thakkar (25-03-2021)
This is in response to the word prompt challenge by fellow author and poetess Brenda Arledge on Tomorrow ....
This word prompt - Tomorrow - also reminds of a very famous Doha by the great Saint Kabir on the importance of overcoming the usual, mundane laziness of postponing important tasks to the morrow ....
Kaal Kare So Aaj Kar, Aaj Kare So Ab,
Pal Mein Paralay Hoegee, Bahuree Karegaa Kab.
Meaning :
Better do (the work) today than tomorrow, better do (the work) now than today.
Destruction / Doom takes just a moment to occur, when will you accomplish (your work) ?
About Doha ....
Doha is a very old "verse-format" of Indian poetry. It is an independent verse, a couplet, the meaning of which is complete in itself, that consists of rhyming couplets made up of twenty-four syllables each, composed in MÄtrika metre.
