I Remember; Do you?

I Remember; Do you?

I remember the first time we met;

Strangers as we were, we got acquainted nevertheless.

We had been introduced as partners for a job,

And we did turn out to be the best, in the entire college!

I remember; Do you?

I remember, how we became friends, as the time went by,

We may not have talked every day back then;

But with every job we did together,

We kept coming closer, and closer…

I remember; Do you?

I remember how our friendship evolved,

From acquaintances to friends, to best friends;

All because we matched so much,

Our thinking, our ideas, even our fantasies…

I remember; Do you?

I remember how this friendship turned…

Into one of the most wonderful relationship,

I had ever seen…

When we confessed our feeling for each other,

That beautiful July evening…

I remember, my friend, Do you?

I remember our first hug,

The one that you said, made you feel ‘secure’,

The hug that made me feel special,

As if I’m the luckiest guy in the world;

I remember it, Do you, dear?

I remember our first kiss;

The one that scared both of us to death:

As we didn’t want people to know about us,

Or maybe, you didn’t want people to know.

It was a wonderful kiss nonetheless,

I remember; Do you?

I remember all of it, buddy;

Those laughs, those texts, those video calls,

Those promises, which you used to make,

And later it all turned out to be fake…

I remember; Do you?

Then, I remember that October Saturday,

The day I saw you in his arms, hiding from all;

You were surprised to see me there;

Didn’t see me coming, did you?

Had you seen me, I’m sure you’d have a perfect excuse,

To be there, all alone, with your ‘he’s just a good friend’!

I remember it, Do you?

I remember how this broke me,

Into so many pieces that I lost count…

My sleep, my career, my meals, all started to fade away,

Because all I could focus on was that October Saturday!

Never in my wildest dreams had I thought…

That you’d do something like this to me,

Maybe that’s why it hurt so much;

 Because I trusted you, in spite of you saying not to…

I remember; Do you?

I’d give up all of it, forgive everything,

Forget our first kiss, your gorgeous face,

The dimples on your cheeks, your laughs

And all those time we spent together for so long!

Just tell me, baby,

where did I go wrong…?

I remember;

All those days we spent together,

All those jokes we laughed on,

All those moments where you held my hand tightly;

Saying that you’d never let me go…

All those nights where we fell asleep,

Talking to each other…

All those promises that you made,

Of never leaving, of being together…

I remember…

Do you?

Diptarka Ghosh Hajra

What have you done for me?

What have you done for me?

“What have you done for me?”

Yelled Ravi, the only son of Mr. & Mrs. Sen,

“Tell me, what did you do for me?

Except scolding me every now and then!”

“Hush Ravi! He’s your father, right?”

“I don’t care, ma. He knows nothing but to scold me.”

Mr. Sen stood there, with a shaky voice, “Alright!”

“Leave it Deepa, He doesn’t understand me, can’t you see?”

“What’s left to understand?” yelled Ravi,

“For the 20 years I’m born, you did nothing but to scold me.”

These conversations weren’t new in the Sen Bunglow,

Especially after their son “grew up” to adolescence.

The son, as he was, would do something, not wise;

His father’s concern would make him the “villain” without thinking twice...

Mr. Sen, an honourable man as he was, did bow down to the words this time;

“What have I done you ask? What have I done?”

“Except for scolding me of course”, retorted his son,

“You have always stopped me from having any kind of fun!”

“Hanging around with bad company isn’t fun, Ravi”, his mother chimed in,

“We do it for your own good, don’t you understand?”

“If you can’t do anything for me, you don’t need to do anything!

Just leave me alone!” shouted Ravi, “Just stop this over-caring!”

Days went by; the Cold War was still on,

Ravi hadn’t spoken a word, neither had his father.

“Why don’t you understand? After all, he is our son.”

“Tell me something Deepa, which son asks such a thing to his father?”

“He is still very young”, Mrs. Sen comforted, “He’ll understand.”

“He will”, sighed Mr. Sen, “but by then, it would be too late.”

“Don’t worry,” said Mrs. Sen, holding her husband’s hand,

“Together, we will set things straight.”

“Why don’t you people just leave me alone?

Don’t you see that I do not want to talk to you?”

“But, Ravi, we are your parents”, pleaded Mrs. Sen;

“What have you done for me as parents? I’m sick of both of you!”

Stabbed by those words from their son, Mr. & Mrs. Sen, went out on a drive,

For the house that echoed with those words, had become unbearable...

Little did they know that it was their last drive,

Little did their son know that the end could be so terrible.

The news broke Ravi, he had never wanted his parents to die,

Just because of his ignorance, he couldn’t even say them “Goodbye!”

Life taught him, the hard way, the pain of losing someone dear,

No matter how hard he shouted, there was no one left to hear.

Alas! Now that his parents were no more, he understood his mistake,

But just as his father said, it was just too late.

Few days later, after the funeral was over,

A suited lawyer approached the grief-stricken Ravi;

He gave Ravi, his parents’ will which was wrapped in a brown cover,

It said, “To our dearest son, for inside you, we live!”

“Ravi,” the lawyer started, “You are now the sole owner of Sen Industries.

There are some savings under your name that your parents had made.

‘My son should not suffer by any means, in case we die’,

At least, that is what your father had said.

Four years later, a journalist asked,

“Mr. Ravi, the most successful young man,

How does it feel to be awarded the best businessman?”

“I feel honoured”, the cameras clicked everywhere he could see..

“Any advice you want to give to today’s young generation?”

His voice shook as he spoke:

“Never ask your parents ‘What have you done for me?’...”

*****

-              Diptarka Ghosh Hajra

Never Open That Door

 Never Open That Door

My lifeless body has been hanging from the ceiling,

No one checked. It’s been an hour!

Mom did knock once; after all, what more could she do?

After a family meeting that went so sour!

I thought Dad would be furious at me!

No matter what, Mr. Gupta’s son has scored better!

But now I see Dad, upset, for scolding me;

He’s even planning to cheer me up, later.

I thought the whole class would make fun of me,

After all, I am no longer the topper of the batch!

However, I see Aryan planning with the others,

To surprise me with a party, and the tickets to a cricket match!

Dear mother, now that I’m no more, things have changed,

I can read everyone’s mind:

I now know that you and Dad are upset for me,

I just never knew I had parents like you, so loving, so kind!

My mother stormed into Dad’s room:

“Have you lost your senses? How could put such pressure on our son?”

I expected Dad to be angry, but wait, he said:

“I know! I shouldn’t have pressurised him, He’s our only one!”

Dad’s even preparing a speech to say that he’s sorry,

Speech that would have made me cry, had I been alive;

I wish I got to know all these 1 hour before,

At least, I could have let my body survive!

“Come out my love! Look, I’ve prepared your favourite dish!”

I heard my mom’s footsteps on the floor.

All I tried was to say to my mom, “Dear mother,

Never Open That Door!”

Diptarka Ghosh Hajra

Thanks for sparing your time here...

Regards! 

The Love That Was Lost

The Love That Was Lost

I stared blankly at the lonely road;

The road that lay ahead.

With no one’s shoulder to cry on,

Upon my wretched fate!

Figures around me disappeared,

Leaving me in the dark;

Tears were rolling down my cheeks,

My heart, breathing, with jerks...

Love, I wanted, was pure in nature,

Something, wonderful to feel...

What I got, were deep wounds,

Which were hard to heal!

“Time will pass”, they said, “Wounds will heal!”

But their scars remain...

No matter how hard I try,

My heart, still, aches with pain!

I tried to open my fist,

And there dropped the friendship-band...

Which was once given to me,

And with love, tied to my hand...

Its nothing but a memento now;

Which reminds of something that existed:

A beautiful relation between two hearts,

Which, has now become, rusted...

A chill ran down my spine,

A chill, as cold as Frost!

And there I was, standing on that road, searching...

The Love That Was Lost!

Diptarka Ghosh Hajra

Thanks for sparing your time here...

Regards!