Lily Swarn.
” I am just going to tell you that we miss you as much as
we always do and though I nod when people say time
heals. Of course, it doesn’t”.
Rest In Peace My Dear 🤲
. The clock had chimed the midnight hour on that wet night in Binnaguri in West Bengal. 15 minutes past 12, you were in this world my son. Yes, it was 1989 but I defy anyone who says that time heals. It only fools you into believing that it is healing you.
Who can forget such a momentous occasion? The birth of a child? After 9 months of bed rest and injections to keep you safe in the womb, you came pink like an English Rose. Perfectly formed like a parcel from Heaven. The sky-blue frock that your Nani had got all the way from Chandigarh looking like a little smock on your delicate frame.Your eyes shut like a sage in meditation . An angelic serenity that must have come from your close contact with the Lord! They do say that babies are closest to God, don’t they?
The hair grew slowly, blond and shiny. The eyes a hazel that had no name – neither grey nor green! You grew in cantonments all across India, imbibing the cultures of different states. Lisping Assamese in Dinjan, answering to Bengali in Bagrakote. A neatly tied top knot laboriously made by me. The hair washed and oiled, then braided for school, before being coiled. A small piece of cloth, the patka tied to cover your’ Kes ‘and keep them clean. A vivid scarlet was my favourite choice for you. It suited your mischievous sparkle well.
Birthdays came with joyous cakes in different shapes. How you loved to pose and look into cameras. I think the cake in this picture that I hunted out has Mickey Mouse. You were more of a little Tom though!
I am just going to tell you that we miss you as much as we always do and though I nod when people say time heals. Of course, it doesn’t. Well stay happy wherever you are . We love you just as much as we always did Gobs. Perhaps more so.
Mama
Happy Birthday
(28 Th August 1989 to 1st January 2013)
International Beat Poet Laureate India 2023 -2024 ,Caesar Vallejo award for literary excellence by UHE ,Lily Swarn, internationally acclaimed ,multilingual poet, novelist, essayist , columnist, gold medalist, university colour holder, radio show host, Peace and Humanity ambassador .
She has over 70 international and national awards including Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi award and her poetry is translated into 21 languages. She can be reached at sukhish83@gmail.com.
