To Juhi (Written On 21st March,2014) Poem by Subhojit Kar

There han't been a name more apposite
In the history of womankind.
Today i saw you in name-befitting
Pristine-white on the newspaper page
Your incontestable eyes
Hidden behind those dark glasses;
The eyes that have seen it all- -
From the throbbing of a billion hearts
To the chilling coldness
(albeit later proved temporary)
of a dear old friend,
steady, dependable and rock-solid.

Many a cold, calculating moment
In my own dreary trek through life
(one of missed opportunities, glaring mistakes
and long spells of darkness;
but now illuminated
by two angelic sisters of yours)
I had thought of writing a poem about you...

But how can one write about the blood
That courses through one's own veins
About one's own pulse, one's own heartbeat
About the maddening fragrance
That turns animals into devotees;
About the never-ending magic
That turns pebbles into flowers
And rascals into poets.

Long ago, you had unearthed a magic-fountain
That bathed the silver-screen
Scorched by mindless potboilers;
You played the lead in the band
That sang the most soulful tune
Of 'true love'- that love
Is the other name of sacrifice
Of selflessness;
That love is neither friendship
Nor courtship, Or even relationship
But the highest form of worship.

Nowadays, i see you in flashes
Your ageless sunshine faces
In TV and newspaper ads,
Sometimes the mercurial roles
That you enact in the movies-
It's the playful eternal artist in you
Painting your own giant canvas
With the multicolored hues
Of your own choice.

Role of daughter(cut short by fate) ,
wife. sister(now deeply aggrieved) , mother
and later, of course, grandmother
(i am waiting for that special day)- -
The roles that you carry off
with such matchless elan in life
Like the flawless color-schemes
(once i read that pastel shades
are your favorites)
That you adorn in your screen-canvas

That divine smile of yours
Can turn serial-killers into saints
No wonder, you have chosen a saintly
Paragon of calmness and patience
As your fellow-traveler
And forever shining
In your fabled journey on strife-torn earth...
And forever shining your image
A pureness, a whiteness, a loveness
That passes as an eternal current
Through whole of time
And yet remains timeless.

O Eternal Flower, with the sea-waves
On your crest and ocean in your eyes
Let the sunshine play on your lips forever.
Let the child in you forever teach
The selfish giants of this world(like me)
The lessons of love
Of forgiveness,
Let your fragrance burn forever
Like an incense in my heart
Protecting me from waywardness,
From malice, from hatred.

Even if the mind-damping rain
Doesn't stop in my life
Even if the sunshine days
Never come back again
Bless me, O Goddess
That i may be able to swim
In the onrushing floodwaters
All around me
And even if i drown
I can chant the prayers
In homage to your fragrance...