An Unknown Young Man
It’s
just hard to say the sheer truth,
harder
even telling lie,
easy
to pretend; but the same
the
life and the young man, Ranjan,
waiting
long at a rarely known halt station.
The
recorded announcing machine
amplifies
again, routine to warn:
‘the
through train is coming to the down lane
passengers
are requested to keep safe distance’.
Blinking station lights fight with the night
dipping
into the darkness. Dogs and the homeless
find
their rest at stairs of the over-bridge.
The
station hangs on silence, often breaks
by
Red FM tuned yonder the tobacco outlet
at
the platform’s back, the outlet keeper
waiting
for the last local passenger down
with
hope of the last sale of the day.
All
passengers of business have already homed
But,
why is Ranjan waiting here since evening?
O,
Ranjan? – Nothing to say good about
the
younger grandson of Bhobani Babu,
once
a national award winning school teacher,
now
no more; named him Ranjan rhyming
the
name of his elder brother, Anjan.
Ranjan,
27 a Youngman, an M.A.; once secured
Star
marks in Madhyamik; mother once expected
high
from him but he cannot fulfill her dream.
Father
couldn’t expect much; died from heart attack
in
service as a lower division clerk
in
the local municipality. His brother is now doing
his
father’s job; bliss of the book. It’s
good:
father’s
death somehow saves one of his sons!
But,
Ranjan ever fulfills no one’s expectation,
All
deadlines are past; all promises become stale
his
beloved can’t wait more. Brother warns tough time
to
manage ends meet and his wife stops talking
for
little Tutun is to be sent to a top-class school.
All
prayer goes wrong, application dies on the table
Ranjan
fits nowhere but his university is accredited!
Like
other mornings Ranjan also started the day
went
to a private firm with best of his hope
for
a humble post but is rejected; called:
‘Overqualified’!
It’s
just hard to say the sheer truth,
harder
even telling lie,
easy
to pretend; but the same
the
life and the young man,
waiting
long at a rarely known halt station.
The
recorded announcing machine
amplifies
again, routine to warn –
God
knows what Ranjan is thinking now!
O
my God! Is he thinking sane?
Will
he go home by last local passenger down?
The
through train is hissing forward
like
the messenger of death!
Shilajit
remixes the background note
through
the Red FM from the outlet:
‘O Jibon
Chariya Jas Na More
Tui Jibon Charia
Gele
Ador Korbe Ke
Jibon Re?’
(trans:
O, life! do not leave the body
If you leave, who will love then?)