As We Go 'Round the Merry-Go-Round

This is where all the action seems to happen in this tiny nation so well-planned. Majestic and tall these buildings shading the populace from the scorching sun.  Are there more stories that are being hidden behind these beautiful structures.  As a group, they look beautiful regardless of the time of day.  individually, do they stand to capture the eye?  The tales told in and outside these walls may or may not capture the mind (or the heart), but walking through the lanes, we are bound to meet the history that helped build this tiny country. 

Mariam remembers the smile mostly, those dark penetrating eyes too, and how they softened every-time he smiled at her.    Though there’s more that was left undone in those few cold days of January 1995.   There was a big, sporty motorcycle parked in the alleyway of the entrance to her aunt’s house at Ananda Palit Road, Calcutta, India. Her aunt’s son, Mariam’s eldest cousin brother, was getting married. Mariam is one of the younger cousins (16 years younger than the groom), and in the later years of her teens were thinking herself too “cool” to be a part of the traditional festivities that were happening around her. So, her brother, another cousin brother and Mariam decided, they were going to explore the alley around her aunt’s house.   They came outside to find a huge motorcycle, shining bright in the glimmering winter sun. It stood mighty and strong, and the first thought that ran through their minds was, we want to take it out on a spin. It must feel so powerful to race that bike a

Found this beautiful poem written under a bridge while I was on one of my walks around Singapore.  So I took a picture that I thought would compliment the words.  And this is the result.  If anyone knows who is the author of this poem, could you please reach out to me?  The words are so deep, it touched a corner of my heart...hope it touches yours too. 

The world today is lush with cementry Flowers decorating the houses are yellow and orange Squares and rectangles motivate the personality Indeed the world is beautiful today. Love is repaid with rejection and money Friends are understood by their logic and bank account Family is yet no more the backbone of the society Even the system that surrounds us is beautiful and gray. Food is plentiful, but not for the hungry Education is varied, but not for the poor Cars are choicest, but not for beggars Homes are lavishly set, but not for the homeless. Clothes are cut straight, not for the curves Shoes are designed only for the feet Variety of products on the shelves portray the economy Restless and scanning are the minds of today. To stand up in unity is a practice of the past Each for its own is the rule of today Glass windows might break, but the frames are inflammable Amazing constitutions govern the people today. Success is measured with the weight of g

An age-old story might be read through these closed doors. I being the 8th generation of the family that had the pleasure of residing at this house behind these gates, am at a loss where to begin. Pre-independence, this used to house a reputed zamindar family of West Bengal. After independence from the British, the occupants of this house carried on with their usual mayhem of use and abuse until there was nothing more left to do but graze everything to the ground. Thankfully, by then my grandfather (6th generation residing at this house) had the good sense to move his immediate family to the newer section of the house. The entrance has not much to speak for itself. But the people of this small town on the outskirts of Calcutta have plenty of stories to add. Starting from the how my grandfather's one calling could rouse the dead from their sleep to my granduncle's strength in carrying huge bellmetal jugs of water from the Ganges on his fingertips. Following in their footst