A Voice in the Dark | Shubhodeep Pal

The cursor blinked twice before the screen went blank momentarily and the screensaver came into operation. The dancing figure of a nude child appeared on the screen… Antariksh heaved a sigh of exasperation and banged the spacebar. The cursor appeared once more – blinking away to eternity. The timepiece at the bottom right displayed the time - 10:35 p.m. ….A particularly depressing time of the night! Antariksh ran a hand over his forehead, wiping away non-existent beads of perspiration from his eyebrow. He reached for the glass of water kept on the far side of his workspace and gulped down the icy-cool liquid. Relief…for some time at least! It seemed cold in his dark room, even though it was early July. The all-pervading sense of aloneness seemed overpowering—as if smothering him under a mattress. Desultorily, he tried to type something…anything. Something to drive away the unceasing lonesomeness… Tonight, perhaps… He reached for the keyboard, and began typing. For sometime, only a shor...

(translated from the Bengali of Rabindra Nath Tagore) On the banks of a river most calm and grey, There sat a sage deep in meditation: in prayer. There chanced that way a beggarly man; to greet The noble sage, he bowed low and touched his feet. Says he , “Lord, my home I have left far behind, “For some material bliss, wealth, I eternally pine. My life’s miserable: I make do with little or none; Wealth I had aplenty, today nothing—my lucky days are gone! The Gods, saddened at my wretched plight, have sent me To you. ‘With that riverside hermit’, said they, ‘will your cure be.’” The hermit is taken aback: he looks astonished at first; Then, suddenly, radiance from his face seems to burst. “Indeed, in that place where the weeds have grown, One day I chanced upon the Philosopher’s Stone. Because I might need to give away some day, I have buried the stone safely in the riverside clay. Noble sir, if it may be of use to you Take it! Yours it rightfully is: to you it should go!” The man hurrie...

I sit and flip some Pages in vain— Outside, some rabid Dogs bark in the rain. Alone I sit and make sense of printed, bland nonsense. The room is numb— I hear nothing Except fear’s thumps: The clock’s ticking. An errant breeze Whips the glass panes Raw as I grease My pens and pains… My bones creak: An evanescent fear Awakes and speaks… Light is near— The last line is clear! Wish you all a very happy and prosperous 2006! H A P P Y N E W Y E A R !!