My City

My city----The moment I utter these two words, almost always my eyes moisten a little, heart skips a beat, and a myriad of emotions drenches me completely. I was born and raised up here, amongst my own in a way that is beyond all words and expressions, living far away from that womb is a compulsion, not a choice…

The stinging pain that I hide behind a non-complaining smile became quite unbearable this afternoon, the kind of pain when ur heart gives in, and you curl up into that ball of desperation and extreme longing, took complete control of me. The reason behind this sudden increase of the already existing pain will again be found in two words “pujo ashche”…

Yes, it is again that time of the year when my city gears up for the festivities … festival is too less of a word to describe the grandeur that is associated with Durga Puja…. with barely a month left i am sure the preparations are in full swing…and here I am, sitting miles and miles away from home, can only imagine and revisit the memories again and again….how all those years, sometimes I took it for granted ….perhaps was too naive to understand that "change is the only constant thing in life"….