Such many days went by when
I kept on waiting with earnest eagerness,
in Autumn, to hear the symphony of the falling leaves
I waited silently in the woods-
For a friend
Or for many others
Perhaps I will be waiting in the days to come too…
Such many days went by when
I stayed home, waiting-
Perhaps someone requested, “Wait for me,
we’ll go out together.”
One Saturday night, groaning in a daze,
a friend casually uttered, “Stay home,
I’ll pick you up at dawn.”
Perhaps he had a mind for
Chunia or Sreepur Forest Bungalow;
- I kept on waiting.
Long before the War,
my dear friend Alok Mitra once
jokingly said,
“Have you been anywhere in your life
except for those
shabby pubs? Let’s go,
I will take you to Dinajpur.
You will get to see Kantaji temple and Ramsagar,
the humongous circular moon, the wide-open sky,
the lives of the peasants and sharecroppers there;
you may even get elements for your stories.
Be ready- I will come”
- I kept on waiting.
I kept on waiting for friends, acquaintances,
even for enemies,
for luscious smiles of friends and knives of foes,
I kept on waiting-
But I will not wait for you
- I will anticipate.
The word ‘anticipation’ I have kept with utmost care
in the ark of my heart solely for you.
In the dictionary, these two words do not
differ much in meaning-
But we both know,
those two words are a gulf apart.
‘Waiting’ is a utile word-
Ordinary, insignificant, inornate,
just satisfying necessity for many.
Only ‘anticipation’ serves us right,
the other lowly word does not deserve us.
Won’t we anticipate each other?
By the wayside, like the Ashwath tree,
I will stand-
That tree- for eternity- stands for the worthy wayfarer
in anticipation.
Ask me to anticipate,
I will stand motionless with unwavering faith.
Standing on for eternity,
my legs will grow roots…
But my anticipation will be yet to satiate…
