The grief is overpowering
For it consumes me completely
The undamable, untameable sorrow
Burning my insides incessantly

Words do not bring solace
Condolences pierce my core
Perhaps on the verge of lunacy
And who knows, very much more

The hurricane raging in my head
Shows no calming signs
Totally devastated by my misery
I begin to lose track of time

Finally at the breaking point
My eyes well up with tears
Washing away all my woes, and
Calming my distraught nerves

Cry your heart out, I say to myself
Let it stream forth in gushes
For when the rains finally arrive
The tempest eventually abates

Subir Chakraborty / 28th March 2018

Rooted in human consciousness
The idea of god gradually evolved
Initially as a shield against insecurities
Around which their lives revolved

One god was not enough
To offer complete protection
So, many more sprung forth
Fostering multiple dimensions

Then emanated the philosophy
From the greats, soft and sublime
The result of intense contemplation
On the spiritual self and the divine

Somewhere down the road
Ripples gave way to a stir
When humans began to forget
That he was a mere metaphor

When denizens with an overdose
Started to take him literally
The aura appeared to wane
And the sublimeness gradually

Unable to deal with uncertainty
They took hold of their gods
Pitching one against the other
As religions emerged at odds

Till the metaphor metamorphosed
Into an obnoxious omen
Leaving malodour and pungency
In the minds of men

Subir Chakraborty / 26th October 2018

कैसा लगता है होली के एक दिन बाद
जब सब रंग उतर जाता है
जब अपना चेहरा फिर से दिखने लगता है
जब अपना प्रतिबिंब आइने के उस पार से
कुछ सवाल खड़ा करता है

इस प्यार और भाईचारे के त्योहार को
क्यों हम एक दिन तक ही सीमित रखें
क्यों भाईचारा जताने के लिए
रंग का सहारा लेना पड़े
चेहरे को छुपाना पड़े

क्या प्यार बाँटने के लिए
चेहरा छुपाना ज़रूरी है
क्या भाई से गले लगाने के लिए
रंग से लिपटना ज़रूरी है
क्या ख़ुद को ना पहचानना ज़रूरी है

पता नहीं क्या सही है और क्या नासही
पर इतना ज़रूर जानता हूँ
चेहरे पे रंग रहे या न रहे
एक दिन आगे हो या पीछे
हर दिन मेरे लिए होली ही है

सुबीर चक्रवर्ती / २१ मार्च २०१९

A riot of myriad colours
Red, blue, yellow, green
Adds spring to my gait
Accentuating my sheen

When joy strikes the heart
In absolute gay abandon
Colours must accompany
Without any condition

Where do I locate my palette
At every nook and corner
Where do I find my canvas
To splurge my colour

My search takes me inside
To my throbbing heart strings
And the truth dawns on me
Making a new beginning

Displaying a bright rainbow
All seven hues in line
Colouring the obstinate edges
Of my skeptical mind

Making me ultimately realise
That the colours in entirety
Reside silently within me
Cloaked in rare beauty

I only have to seek it
In the depths of my mind
To soothe and be soothed
By nature sublime

Subir Chakraborty / 6th June 2018

When life began to ebb
And death was finally born
When the silent screech
Pierced the sky at dawn

When the two end points
Ultimately gained salience
When permanence faded
To yield ground to transience

When creation began to flow
Through this journey called life
When humans began to evolve
One small step at a time

It was at that point
That a sense of philosophy emerged
It was at that juncture
Contemplation became an urge

It was at that point
That homo sapiens became aware
Of the cyclicality of existence
Of birth and death beyond compare

It was at that point
That nature appeared boundless
Where homo sapiens may be limited
But their spirit truly limitless

Subir Chakraborty / 23rd Sept 2018

We undertake, we exploit
We extract from this earth
Its waters, its minerals, treasures
What do we give back
Do we ever ponder

Does the earth belong to us
Or do we belong to this earth
The sun, the moon, the stars
The galaxies
The entire universe

We buy and own lands
But can we ever own
The sweetness of this earth
The gurgling of the streams
The singing of the birds

The air which we breathe
The freshness of the leaves
The fragrance of the flowers
The liberation of dawn
The solitude of dusk

What right do we have then
To debase and to defile
What we do not own
What we have inherited as legacy
With only temporary tenancy

Do we ever pause
Do we ever contemplate
What we shall be leaving behind
For the next generation to savour
And to ponder

Subir Chakraborty / 19th Oct 2018

जीवन में वक़्त एक ऐसा आया
कि वक़्त को ढूँढने निकल पड़ा
वक़्त के आगे, वक़्त के पीछे
वक़्त के बीच मंडराने लगा

किसने देखा इस वक़्त का चेहरा
जो किसी के लिए रूकता नहीं
आगे की दिशा में चलता है
किसी के सामने झुकता नहीं

फिर भी साहस इकट्ठा कर
वक़्त से पूछा एक सवाल
कैसे चलते रहते हो रात दिन
कैसे करते हो ये कमाल

वक़्त ने कहा ज़रा सा हंसकर
ज़रा सा आकर पास
कानों में स्पष्ट सुनाई दिया
उसकी गूँजती हुई आवाज़

ज़िंदगी को खुलकर जियो
अपने दोस्त परिजनों के साथ
हर पल को दिल से सँवारों
हर क्षण से करो प्यार

और बाकि बची, खुशी, ग़म
जो आएँगी घूम फिर के बार बार
न खुशी से फूलो , न ग़म से डरो
ये तो सिर्फ़, वक़्त वक़्त की बात

सुबीर चक्रवर्ती / २७ फरवरी २०१९

अब किस किस से समझौता करूँ
अपने काम से, अपनी परिस्थितियों से
अपने परिवार से, ख़ुद से
अब थोड़ी सी थकान महसूस होती है
अब दिल और ही कुछ चाहने लगा है

सोचता हूँ
क्या होगा इस उम्र में, अगर
मैं सिर्फ़ ख़ुद के लिए ही सोचूँ
दूसरों से नाता तोड़कर
प्रकृति से जोड़ूँ

प्रकृति की सौंदरता को क़रीब से परखूँ
पक्षियों के सरगम को ज़रिया बनाकर
उनके मधुर स्वरों में विलीन हो जाऊँ
ऊँचे आसमान को साक्षी मानकर
नील गगन में खो जाऊँ

अब दिल चाहता है
कि मैं खुली हवा में साँस लूँ, और
दिल की धड़कनों के साथ धड़कता रहूँ
अब दिल चाहता है
कि मैं समझौता से समझौता करूँ

सुबीर चक्रवर्ती / २४ फरवरी २०१९

Riches come to the rich
Poverty to the indigent
Knowledge to the educated
Ignorance to the ignorant

A vicious cycle
Where imaginary barriers exist
To deny any real mobility
To the status quo which persists

Even the fortunate few
Who have escaped the trap
And dared to break the barrier
With a feather in their cap

Even they tend to harbour
The very same prejudices
And from a rung above
Curse the dirty ditches

Is the concept of social hierarchy
Embedded in the human genome
For us to derive a sense of comfort
And treat as a natural phenomenon

Do we need rigid stratification
In order to make the next leap
Or is it just a matter of convenience
For those at the top of the heap

Even if all else dissolves one day
The hierarchy of gender may remain
The final curse written on stone
The barrier yet to be broken

Subir Chakraborty / 28th Nov 2018

Why should I feel the horror
Why should I bother for Pulwama
Why should I agitate my conscience
Why should I disturb the indifference

Why should I feel it is my problem
Why should I feel any pain
Why should I care to pause
Why should I pause to care

Why should I look beyond myself
Why should I think about the sacrifice
Why should I think about the families
Why should I internalise the suffering

Why should I spoil my sleep
Why should I wreck my mood
Why should I alter my position
Why should I call myself human

Subir Chakraborty / 17th Feb 2019