Dear Zindagi, Teaser...
Life is like the flowing breeze
Life is like an ocean
Life is that celebration
Which all commemorate with expectation...
Life is sad and gloomy
Life is full of light
Life is like that sparkling dawn
Soothing, crimson, bright...
Life is tough, life is harsh
Life is a maddening race
Life is like that mysterious mirage
Which you and me do chase...
Life is love, life is embrace
Life is soft and giving
Life is like that moment before the end
Life is worth a living...
Dear Life,
How are you? I know you must have delectably embraced the negativities around and made yourself worthy. Yet I ask you, how are you? And will wait forever for an answer.
Do you know buddy why I started this letter with poetry. You guessed it right, I wanted to show off my amateur rhyming skills. You know me so well, don't you? But there is another reason too, and that is, your thought made me poetic.
"Main Shayar toh nahi, magar ae hansi, jabse dekha maine tujhko, mujhko shayari aa gayi..."
In this generation of emails, texts and messages, it’s been ages since I wrote a letter. And suddenly when I am writing I realized that I have lost my words. My literary and poetic genius is bemused amongst shortcuts and urban dictionary. Yet I will try, because its you who has taught me "try, try and you will succeed."
As you know, tomorrow is my birthday, and I think this is the ideal time for me to thank you. But it's not easy...believe me...its not. For all that you have been to me, and for all that you have not been but I had craved for, I want to thank you.
Remember when I was born, my grandma who later loved me like mad, had drowned into melancholy. A third baby girl to her eldest son, simply too much for her to take! But when my father saw me in the hospital, he held me in his arms and looked at the apologetic face of my mother saying “who would want a son, if God wants to give me princesses each time?” I thank you life for making me born to parents, who preached righteousness and honesty, without wearing the voluntary blindness of superstitions. I thank you for making me a strong woman, capable of voicing her thoughts, unshaken by the baseless norms of bourgeois society.
And off-course, how much can I thank you for the beautiful childhood that you gifted me. Baba, Ma and the three princesses lived in a beautiful township amidst crisp greenery, tangible blueness of the sky and the seraphic, yet cosmopolitan ambiance. A perfect breeding ground for rich souls! A place that taught me unison of caste, creed and religion into one single word “Humanity”! And the learning etched itself so grave, that the hatred around could not alter my within. A place that made me modern, classy yet rooted. It taught me the glitz and glitters of winter balls, and allowed me to enjoy the joy and gaiety of Durga Puja. I thank you, thank you and thank you.
I did not appreciate that I was growing up, before Baba left us for good. I can’t thank you for that. But I thank you that you made him have a very peaceful journey to the heavenly abode. I also thank you for giving my family strength during those days of despair and absolute loneliness.
Kolkata snatched away a lot, but it gave a lot too. I met my husband there. I thank you and embrace you with love, for bestowing this blessing on me. Now we are married for 6 long years, but each day continues to be silvery, smooth and fun. A man sans the cheap ego of manhood, a man with a golden heart, I thank you life for giving me my man of dreams.
When I landed in Mumbai, I thought I would hate the city. The crowded streets, cacophony and commotion, at times left me gasping for breathe. But I thank you for bringing me to my sweetheart city of dreams. This city gave me togetherness with my life partner; this city gave me my first own apartment on the sixteenth floor, with a mysterious bird’s eye view of the city with the backdrop of the Western Ghats. This house has made my days crimson and nights starry. I thank you life for that.
Last but not the least, I thank you for bringing me to the city that gave me back my love for words. I never thought I could paint with the brush of words this elegantly, until I knew of blogging. I thank my life in Mumbai for that. And in my quest in search of narratives, I have completed my first Novel. I could have never thought about it, few years back, but dear life you have given me that strength. I don’t know if my tale will see the light of publishing or not. But my creativity thanks you for being there, keeping me alive enough to create a narrative.
Oh! I just realized how long I have been writing. After-all a letter is too small to thank you Life…just be with me as long as I am worthy to have you…you are beautiful but at times I fail to recognize it…but as I write about you I appreciate your beauty more….
What else to write, what else to say…all I have learnt from you is…whatever you dream to do…today is the day.
Loads of love, hugs, kisses and more
Ever-indebted friend
Aritra
“I am writing a letter to life for the #DearZindagi activity at BlogAdda“
Aritra Chakrabarty Sengupta
