CALL AND RESPONSE.
I am ritualistic, like Dadi. Subsequent to my prayers one morning, Sarvajit, chewing thoughtfully over his breakfast, asked me with no reference to context, ” what do you pray for?” Flummoxed by his query I decided to be irritatingly rhetorical, and presented him with another pithy question, “WHY”.
His response left me shaken, subdued and reflective, but mostly ashamed. He said, ” don’t you think your God tires of the incessant wanting and complying? Have you tried empathy with your God? How would you feel, plied with need and desire by millions?”
I presented this poem as a response to Sarvajit, and YES, now I only pray in GRATITUDE.
CALL AND RESPONSE.
CALL:
The want eternal, the desire increased,
The hunger mounting, the thirst unceased ,
The first to touch the finishing line,
In looks, achievements, the power be mine!
” sarva vighnopa shantaye”, oh my faith,
“Allah ho Akbar” grant me I sayeth,
“Give us today our daily bread “,
I need, I want, much MORE to tread!.
When shards of sound pierce the silence of prayer,
I hear a voice, known, familiar,
I strive to hear the chant of yore,
A voice unheard, hitherto AFORE.!
RESPONSE:
” I tire of giving, the incessant need,
My pew is empty, the conches weep,
The flowers are dry, the sandalwood stale,
Hear ME but once, MY sorrowful tale.
Return to ME the moon and stars,
The galaxy, the sun, the driftwood, Mars,
Tha cadence of song, the moving limbs,
The panoramic vision, the light within.
Return to ME the sepia, the rust,
The snow, the hills, the dales, the dust,
The weeping willow, the sparkling stream,
The lightning, the thunder, the gilt the gleam!”
” FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES “,I ask again,
The habit dies hard, there’s more to gain,
I hear YOU, and yet I hear YOU not,
It’s convenient, please ” FORGET ME NOT…”
Rupa Chakravarti
