What was it like
When humans first evolved
In the valleys and wilds
Before civilisation had called

Did the men rape the women
With wanton gaiety
Or was it a cautious existence
Of a reserved variety

Was there any evidence
Of female infanticide
Where boys were pampered
And girls barely survived

Were morals and ethics
Known in that age
Or did they develop gradually
With sophistication and grace

Where do I place the present era
How do I define the on-going times
Where girls get raped and brutalised
And female infanticide on the rise

Is it post-evolution but pre-civilisation
In its contextual frame of reference
Or do I place it pre-evolution
After extensive due diligence

But that may be grossly insulting
To the general animal population
Whose denizens may take umbrage
At this inclusion of inhuman humans

Subir Chakraborty / 19th April 2018

Am I a citizen of this country
Should I share in its pain
Or is my only purpose in life
To maximise my gain

How should I react
To the Unnao episode
Or the Kathua and now Surat
Or is it outside my code

Candlelight marches
And protests galore
To shake up the conscience
Of humanity at its core

And yet I keep my eyes shut
In blissful unawareness
Calling it a minor incident
A blip in the wilderness

Or sheer lack of courage
Seals my lips
No comments, I say
Nice, brief and crisp

Never pausing to think
That my inability to empathise
Makes me less of a human
And more a demon in disguise

Subir Chakraborty / 15th April 2018

When the koel sings a lullaby
In the early hours of dawn
You know it has finally arrived
Your favourite Sunday morn

The morning stretches seamlessly
Amidst endless cups of tea
As you read the Sunday news
With an extra ounce of greed

The afternoon lifts your spirits
In ways more than one
Sumptuous lunch followed by siesta
A unique, sublime combination

Finally, when your near and dear ones
Raise your productivity to doing precious nothing
You know you have entered the precincts
Of a gentle Sunday evening

Subir Chakraborty / 1st April 2018

The muted light skims your face
Imparting a magical quality
Half shaded, hushed, yet visible
Revealing a sublime tapestry

Subir Chakraborty / 14th March 2018

The smile on the lips
The outstretched hand
Beckoning a destitute
With comfort and warmth

Hesitation can occur
When you give only a part
But when you give it your all
It promptly deserts

To be suitably replaced
With divinity and grace
On a frail old woman
With a glint on her face

Not to be misunderstood
As a sign of weakness
The epitome of tenderness
Laced with firmness

Mother to all humanity
Compassionate and caring
A living saint in our midst
Courageous and daring

Many accolades, one lifetime
Magsaysay, Nobel, Order
But for the dying on the streets
Only a deeply loving mother

Subir Chakraborty / 20th March 2018

The poetry of daily life
Consumes my very existence
Each word, comma, exclamation
Describes my being in continuance

Each activity blends harmoniously
To a rhythm in my heart
Each pause a minor interval
Prior to a refreshing start

Daily existence is a concert
With notes high and low
Can be a replay of Brahms Rhapsody
Or even a Bach Concerto

The symphony continues uninterrupted
Undisturbed and unabated
For me to enjoy every moment
And live life to the fullest

Subir Chakraborty / 24th Feb 2018

When pleasure lies
On a bed of pain
When to lose is to win
With a sense of gain

When to conquer the peak
Is to actually surrender
As you finally summit
It makes you ponder

Going down the aisle
With your daughter’s arm
Are you losing a daughter
Or gaining a son

Making that kind gesture
To an elderly couple
May cause you inconvenience
Perhaps some trouble

But that feel of satisfaction
You derive in the end
May more than justify
Your temporary pain

Can gain exist in isolation
Without any underlying pain
Still being contemplated
Still unexplained

Subir Chakraborty / 3rd March 2018

When the gods shall paint a rainbow
Across the arch of the sky
I shall tiptoe down your heart
Without a shout or a cry

Subir Chakraborty / 28th Feb 2018

The narrative of the revolution
Runs deep through the veins
The unshakeable self belief
In the ideology of change

Change for equality
Change for justice
Change to classlessness
Change for freedom

Scores of lives are sacrificed
Near, dear, not so near, unknown
Those who could mourn
And those not old enough to bemoan

And yet when change happens
The narrative begins to ferment
Over a period of time
Unnoticed, slowly, silently

The rot seeps in
Surreptitiously through the system
Initially in ones and twos
And then as an avalanche

Humans demonstrate once again
That ingenuity and creativity
Can always find ways and means
To subvert idealism, ideology

The detritus begins to stink as years pass by
Till there comes a time
To dream of another ideology
A new revolution

Subir Chakraborty / 4th March 2018

I lie in silence looking at the ceiling
You too lie in silence, sinews taut
Our fingers crave for the touch
But they fall short, miserably short

Subir Chakraborty / 16th Feb 2018