ज़िन्दगी के हर मोड़ पर
करते क्या हैं हम
सिर्फ़ इकट्ठा करते रहते हैं
दौलत, ख़ुशी और ग़म

इसी तरह देखते देखते
भर जाती है झोली
लेकिन मन मानने से नाराज़
रुकने की है देरी

कोशिश यही रहती है
कि कैसे करें और बड़ी
उस प्यारी झोली को
जो लगभग भर चुकी

झोली के बोझ ढोते ढोते
कमर टूट जाए फिर भी सही
ख़ुशी थोड़ी कम भी मिले
उसमें कोई ग़म नहीं

और जो कुछ भी है इस जीवन में
कहाँ दे सकते हैं वक़्त
पीछे रह जातें हैं सब
रिश्ते, भाईचारा, मोहब्बत

जीवन के सायंकाल में
न झोली रहेगी, न पहचान
जाना सबको एक दिशा
जल उठेगा श्मशान

सुबीर चक्रवर्ती / ३० अक्टूबर २०१८

Why do you have to speak
For me to hear you
Why can I not be like the breeze
And enter your being posing as air

Without you calling out to me
Or wanting to possess me
Without any sense of ownership
Invading my senses

Where I can mingle as I please
Of my own free will
Where there is a sense of belonging
Without the bindings of compulsion

You shall know of my presence
From the sweet fragrance
Which shall linger in your mind
Long after I have left

Subir Chakraborty / 16th April 2019

If only my words could pierce your veil
And seep into your soul
With meandering freshness and mystique
Woven delicately in diaphanous layers

Gently, silently, and yet
With the hesitation of first flush**
Blossoming tentatively on a tea bush
With the koel signalling the advent of spring

For the romance of first love
Moves with an uncertain gait
Fraught with halting nervousness
As it glides through whispering alleyways

The unpredictability is killing, yet so very absorbing
Occupying each thought, every breath
Giving sustenance and meaning to my very existence
Yet causing sweet murder

For I am not the same anymore
Cause you have changed me so
My earlier life lies in absolute tatters
As I turn to you for alms of love

** First Flush refers to the youngest and the freshest tea leaves, which are plucked first at the start of the season in spring. Darjeeling First Flush is one of the costliest varieties of tea available in the market.

Subir Chakraborty / 17th June 2019

Deep in the depths of your mind
Dwells a minuscule maelstrom
Churning out ego in small doses
Without creating a storm

Which feeds into your being
In nanoscopic proportions
Creating a sense of importance
With its sweet, musky potion

The more you mull over the fragrance
The more it looks like a goal
Till it begins to tug at your conscience
Through the spiralling suckhole

Gradually you lose control
With ethics becoming a casualty
The cesspool only getting bigger
With your ego seated in admiralty

Steering your life’s ship
To dangerously choppy swells
Where you are hardly in control
And all may be far from well

If a jagged rock sinks your ship
You may indeed be fortunate
For realisation may dawn early
Taking you away from the vortex

For the ones not so lucky
Realisation may never come
As you watch the eddies swallow you
And for straws you have none

Subir Chakraborty / 1st July 2018

क्यों इस दिवाली में ऐसा लग रहा है
कि पटाखे न फोड़ूँ, फुलझड़ियाँ न जलाऊँ
क्यों ऐसा लग रहा है
कि कुछ अलग करके दिखाऊँ

क्यों इस काली पूजा के अवसर पर
लग रहा है यूँ
कि इस बार प्रतिमा को समर्पित
गंगा मैया में न करूँ

क्यों ऐसा लग रहा है
कि हमारा वातावरण रो रहा है
इस दूषित धुआँ से जर्जरित होकर
अपनी आख़री साँसें ले रहा है

क्यों ऐसा लग रहा है
कि गंगा मैया भीख़ माँग रही है
उज्जीवित, उछलती जलधारा
आज रुक रुक के बह रही है

क्यों ऐसा लग रहा है
कि इस बार ख़ुशियों की मोमबत्तियाँ जलाऊँ
क्यों ऐसा लग रहा है
कि माँ काली की मूर्ति दिल में सजाऊँ

ता कि बड़े बुज़ुर्ग आवाज़ से न तड़पें
ता कि हवा खुल के हँस सके
ता कि गंगा मैया का आँचल लहराता रहे
ता कि मनुष्य जाति नवजीवन पा सके

सुबीर चक्रवर्ती / १९ अक्टूबर २०१९

Does my concept of nationhood and citizenship
Conflict with my Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism
Or for that matter
My atheism, agnosticism

Does it overlap seamlessly without blurring the boundaries
Or does it accentuate the borders
Making them distinct, unbreachable
Irreconcilable, impassable

Which comes first
Which second
Or does one coalesce into the other
Creating a medley all its own

Did religion create man
Or did man create religion
Is being a human more important
Than the tenets of a nation

Or should I just listen to my heart
And let all else follow suit
For the religion of humanity
To nurture my concept of identity

For finally, I who I am
Defines my relationship with my country
And outlines the boundaries of my religion
Granting me my individuality in a sea of diversity

Subir Chakraborty / 25th April 2019

Life must happen as it will
Taking you through unknown rapids
Throwing in a surprise when least prepared
Sucking you out of your old habits

Earnings of a lifetime may evaporate
Well laid plans may go to waste
Thunder may strike without warning
Forcing you to re-plan in haste

The only way to navigate life
Is not to try and seek total control
Success and failure, the conjoint twins
Helping you to evolve manifold

Let the vagaries of life
Broaden your narrow confines
For you to explore and to savour
And leave your footprints on time

Let the uncertainties of life
Unfold joys and sorrows anew
Enjoy the journey sans expectations
As precious life happens to you

Subir Chakraborty / 6th Oct 2019

I would gladly sacrifice all my certitude
At the hazy altar of bewilderment
To replace assuredness, stillness
With turbulence and amazement

For what is it not to know
What beckons you across the border
What is it that pulls the romantics
What is it that creates this fervour

Ask the ones who have scaled the peaks
Or dived to the bottom of the ocean
Ask the ones who have toiled and failed
To try once more, again and yet again

Ask the mighty Ganges and she will tell you
Which part is full of merriment and fun
High up in the hills with crevasses and rapids
Or in the plains with indolence and stagnation

Ask your own genes and they will tell you
How chance happenings have resulted in evolution
How without the mystery of the unknown
We may have remained less than human

Subir Chakraborty / 21st July 2019

This earth a spinnin’
With her two poles intact
Not too long after dawn
Dusk has begun its craft

This earth a changin’
Happening all too fast
This moment you sit
And the very next ‘sat’

This earth a talkin’
Can you hear her plea
Choking in poisonous air
Begging to be left free

This earth a kickin’
Like a child in her prime
Genes, splitting, combining
Evolving all the time

This earth a travellin’
With wanderlust in her eyes
Stars, galaxies her siblings
In this journey through the skies

This earth a hummin’
With the everlasting tune of love
Ushering the beautiful seasons
With music from her trove

Subir Chakraborty / 2nd June 2019

I do not seek the skies
For my spirit soars high above
I do not seek heaven
For I have found my heaven on earth

I do not seek the depths
For I enjoy the tranquility of the shore
I do not seek a god
For I treasure the silence at my core

I do not seek good luck
For I know not what that means
I do not seek happiness
For I know not any other theme

I do not swim with the flow
For I want to be that flow, even in pain
I do not seek change
For I want to be that change, time and again

I do not seek love
For love enshrouds my being
I do not seek freedom
For freedom enshrines my dreams

Subir Chakraborty / 18th Sept 2019