If you have read my About me, you would know that l lived at Durgapur for the most of my life till very recently. In fact I have spent more than nine years at this small ex-servicemen’s housing complex called Amarabati. Well my grandfather, an ex-air force man, built this house some five years before I was born. And the four of us- my grandfather, my parents and I have stayed at this place for the better part of my childhood.
Amarabati is centrally located in Durgapur, lying between Bidhan-nagar and Steel Township. To the northwest lie The Government College and a lush green protected forest. To the northeast lies the Central Reserve Police Force Camp. As I turn to the southwest I can see the cold mist rising from the lake across the main street. On the west, hot steam is pouring out of the tall chimneys of Durgapur Project Limited, the powerhouse. Amarabati is strikingly green and full of birds. You can at all times during the day hear the air filled with their chatter. There is also an abundance of beautiful flowers and trees in people’s small gardens.
I feel a kind of attachment to this place that I cannot fully convey through my incompetent words. There is this feeling now that I am sitting relaxed on the terrace- enjoying the warm winter sun and breathing deeply the cool breeze that is flowing past me- it gives me a sense of belonging ; like this is it !- this is what I always wanted, a blissful paradise- a Amarabati. Amarabati literally means heaven and I believe my Amarabati is truly a small heaven. Of course for a more perfect paradise, I might have demanded greater amenities like fewer mosquitoes and fewer power cuts. But then as long as I can see those tall coconut trees rustling its long leaves in the gentle breeze, bathed in dazzling sunlight against a clear blue sky, I shall ask no more.
Many a long nights I spent all alone on our terrace watching with wide eyed wonder the jet black velvety sky decked with a thousand sparkling stars- adorned by the beautiful moon. Sometimes I feel I could see the Milky Way or a planet or a meteor. I have a small telescope, you know. I love gazing at the lunar surface through it. As seasons pass I can see old constellations disappear and new ones arrive. The Orion, the Leo, the Swan, the Dippers...I can identify some of them. Sometimes, an aeroplane would go fleeting across the sky and I would gaze at it till is beyond the horizon. What a sight, what magic, what enigma!! As if suddenly I expand. From being a mere Debotosh Poddar bound in the hassles of small daily life, I become free like a universal spirit. As if the whole beautiful universe becomes my lover. I feel so vacant and empty of all cares and worries; so freely buoyant and so full of love for everyone and everything. As though I am a war weary soldier who has found a sweet lover who holds me tight in her embrace and makes me forget this world and takes me to a better place where there is only she and me under that lovely sky.
Before a thunderstorm when the sky is heavy with murky cumulo-nimbus clouds, I usually run out to the terrace. A Kalbaisakhi is really like nature’s finest orchestra. The beginning is quiet-everyone waiting in anticipation. Then there is a gust of wind- sudden but it subsides soon. The world is shocked, not knowing what to expect now. Then there is another gust- stronger and crazier- blowing from all directions and forcing the trees to bow. Then another follows in quick succession and another and another. Soon it becomes as dark as the night, the wind howling like a banshee and carrying loads of sand and dust, dried leaves and twigs, some unfortunate man’s pyjamas, polythene bags and paper. Few would be foolish enough to stand out in that abrasive gale, but then I was never very bright. So out in the storm I stand facing the wild wind as it keeps throwing stuff at me, scorching my skin with the bust and burning my eyes- my pulse rate doubles, adrenaline flows freely through my veins and I can feel like a man flying through at supersonic speed. And then perhaps my lover realizes that she has been mad with me for long enough and she starts feeling sorry for me as I stand stupidly, all shaken up with a mouthful of dust, bloodshot eyes and messy hair. She regrets it all and there comes the first drop-splat on my nose! Then another on the rain deprived earth and another...pit pat pit patter pit patter patter. The fragrance of moist earth fills the air and then splash! The whole heaven breaks open and releasing a thousand floods. I stand shivering in the cold breeze while taking in the chill and rain drops like a thirsty child. And there is my lover! She holds me tight in her windy embrace and caresses my hair with her rain drops. I can only whisper to her ears, “If there is a Paradise on Earth, it is here, it is here, it is here”.
I wish I had the words to convey all that I feel. But alas, I do not have the gift. So maybe you realized nothing. But only if you can see nature’s beauty all around you, you will know what I mean, you will see what I see, and you will feel what I feel. If only you will discover your Amarabati.
