This morning was different. Usually it is corroded with an ubiquity of problems. I step out with heavy feet without expecting any miracle to happen. But this disparate morning was fresh with the touch of the velvety wind. It started with the aroma of a perfect cup of Darjeeling tea as the crimson daylight filtered in my room through the folds of the drapes. The streets and train stations were brimming as usual. But today, the busy faces in the crowd looked content. It was good to realise that they haven’t forgotten to smile.
I am happy it was a different morning. I am happy to see them smile...
But then one day, the wind changed its direction and we had to part. Our hopes that germinated under the same sky relinquished before the sun-burnt reality. We were deeply dismayed as we saw our friendship melting away. For the first time we could listen to the sound of the clock loud and clear.
Time raced and we could not swim against its waves. We ended up in benighted lands where we are lonely amidst the crowd. In the dying moonlight we stand like two islands, oceans apart. Our existences wrapped in grim solitude.
অনেক পথ হেটেছি তোর সাথে
হোচট খেলে ধরেছি তোর হাথ,
আবোল-তাবোল রঙিন আঁকি-বুকি
ঘুম পাড়ানি গান, জেগে থাকা রাত...
এখন তুই অন্য পারে থাকিস
দূরাভাষে গুছিয়ে কথা বলা;
দু' এক পশলা ইচ্ছে আজও আছে
বুকের ভিতর, জমিয়ে রাখা থাক.....
