All posts by ippljournal

[M.A. (English), University of Calcuttam, (College Street Campus)] Downpour It’s hard to run in the desertYour feet sink into the sand.Every step feels like twenty.You hate the heat. You hate the sand.You hate the sun.You hate because hate is cold.Rain was a dream you had centuries ago.You dream of the desert.You live in the desert.Concrete…

Desh Child in armsShe left her hearthTo save her DeshTo listen to the oneHundreds gatherIn unisonReligion, caste , classAll mergeUnite to holdThe oppressor at bayThe outsider, intruderWhose power is forcedBut without supportFrom withinCan it brim?When Dyer the beastBlood hound, stood stillOur own hands shotOur ownInnocent, unarmed, helpless soulsIntruders goneNow we are on our ownStill innocent,…

Jallianwala Bagh They knew notVagaries of faithFaith led them toThe edge of deathDeath duped themSecretly flashingIts ravenous claws Chorus:Cannon to right of themCannon to left of themCannon in front of themVolley’d and thunder’dStorm’d at with shot and shell. They were not martyrsShining out of glowing lines Martyrs they never wanted to beWaiting in desolate historyDeath…

Remembrances The city that takes its name from nectarNectar that is supposed to be in the watersThe divine presence that resonates in the watersA city where tourists flock to seek divinityA calmness in the air as one sits quietReadings of the holy text reverberatingThis calmness is benumbed as one moves to the BaghA garden that…

That Fateful day Those boys and girls, those men and women, those children and tiny-totsGathered to celebrate the new year of their own,Festive, joyous, regal moments for the commoners,In the swirls of light, in the spreading green,They failed to see the writing on the wall, And then unguarded, unprotected,Those innocent people were shredded with bullets…

13th of April, 1919, is a black day in the history of humanity. On that day troops of the British Indian Army under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer open fired on a large, peaceful crowd of unarmed civilians—men, women, children and elderly Indians, who had gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh in Punjab’s Amritsar to…

Twilight In between right and wrongfalls the greyThe grey of many hues Where dusk sets inAnd birds flock homeTo feed the little ones. Or I snuggleinto my comfort zone Or clandestine lovers meetAt the end of a blind alley Grey comforts meLike the fading memories of a childhood SundayOr a memorable midnight conversation with a…

Of Smells You smell grim you knowAnd even though you are not so oldThe skin around your eyes fold,Into a thousand crinkles. And when I look at youUnaware, I often wonder,Why you stare transfixed at nothing.All the while, the nicotine swirls upward,Settling into your beard making it smoky… And underneath your social maskYou would rather…

Witness The scent of Alstonia fades.Across the silent phone lines — dusk gathers, murky and ominous,solidified in the labyrinthine mazes of memories. Clear eyes cloud,dim with the dust that chokes the once pristine night air.The whizz of a rasping breath the only sound that scattersthe false halo of serenity surrounding the lustreless light bulbs; the…

I Break Free My wings clipped, my dreams shattered,My heart ached –I say to my distraught self:Break the shackles of love that entrappedyou over the years,Break the chains, the bond of love that shallstifle you in the years to come. I struggle for my independence,I break free,I come out of my caged freedom to flyaway…