Panorama

Sparkling lights and glistening nights, Like streets lit with fireflies, Starry skies and towering highs, Bedecked, bedazzled for the eyes. But a speck of gray in the crevice, The sight sees but fail to admonish. Shrouded behind the glitz and glamour, A city cold and weary with the winter. Like the faces that hide beneath Layers of social mask, the souls that breathe, Behind the cheery eyes and the twisted smiles, Playing peekaboo with life Lies shades of concealed despair Camouflaged by the faces fair. A pang of melancholy, a flair of gloom Like the ice-cold wind bringing doom. You see the trees covered with lights, But they have shed their leaves golden and bright.   -Devyashree 18.12.2024

  October they say is not a season, but a feeling. It may mean different to different souls. In the western world, maybe October rings a bell for the advent of fall, streets laden with golden leaves and a cold breeze . However for me October always resonated with Durga Puja, the sense of festivity in the air, a slight nip in the breeze and the fragrance of ‘sewali’ in the night air. It is to this day, whenever I encounter the sweet smell of ‘sewali’ , it takes me on a nostalgic ride to the “sewali”tree blooming in the frontyard of my home in my little town - the innumerable pandal hopping, 90’s songs blazing on the loudspeakers, the continuous clanking of horns and plastic trumpet, and people making their way amidst the chaos and crowd,     decked up in their best attire- pretty maidens, howling kids, colourful stalls and honking cars, all somehow creating a melange of sorts that still vividly paints a picture in my mind, as I hear and feel “ OCTOBER”. But “ October “ als...