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From Matchbox
Matchbox – May ’25
Kolkata, Longing & Belonging
Kolkata's dreamscape unfolds with surreal imagery, a vibrant, yearning search for rooted identity and belonging
May 15, 2025
(In memory of Pritish Nandy)
January the eighth, twenty twenty-five.
I wake up early,
go for a long walk in cell phone light before the sunrise.
I see refugees
sleeping at the edge of crooked tramlines,
breathing the scent of poppies and prophets,
and beggars reading unsold editions of newspapers.
Suddenly a rebellion ensues—
the city turns into a holy stone, a mirror and a language of surprise.
Strange coppery words ripen inside our muslin bodies,
we shiver in pain and prayer and slowly fuse into each other like
tomorrow and yesterday.
We dig deep into unclaimed manuscripts of Banalata Sen from Natore,
strike each other’s breasts and thighs with the ferocity of primitive fantasies.
“Isn’t that enough?” she says, panting!
I decide to walk a bit longer,
see leopards unload the cargos of raw meat,
smelling like freshly harvested paddy, and notice
corners of blue painted sky filled with my teeth marks.
I have no idea how it happened because
last night was a lunar eclipse, and
there was no light in the Chowringhee lane.
I realise the road slowly turns into a tunnel
of rotten oranges and nylon frocks.
I am now in the middle of Sonagachi—
All brothels are closed here and
Marilyn Monroe is busy making idols of Durga.
I return home—
meagre daylight peering through the attic-windows.
a fat dragonfly is waiting for me.
I gently brush aside my grey-silver curls
from my forehead and say to him
goodbye the second time, and I write in my dusty diary:
‘You must not exile him!’
(dedicated to Ashis Nandy, elder brother of Pritish Nandy)
📖
PART OF A COLLECTIONKolkata, Longing & Belonging and 4 other poems
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Ashwani Kumar
Ashwani Kumar is a poet, political scientist, and professor whose work has been widely published, anthologized, and translated into several languages. His poetry collections include My Grandfather’s Imaginary Typewriter, Banaras and Other Poems, and Map of Memories, and he is also the author of the acclaimed non-fiction work Community Warriors. He has edited major poetry anthologies, including Rivers Going Home, Scent of Rain, and River of Songs, co-founded the Indian Novels Collective, and edits the Hummingbirds Poetry Series in partnership with Red River. He was also a chief editor of Global Civil Society at the London School of Economics. He has held visiting appointments at leading international institutions, including Heidelberg University, the Korea Development Institute (KDI), and the German Development Institute (DIE). He also writes for publications such as The Indian Express, The Hindu, Financial Express, Outlook India, Scroll, and The Print. He lives in Mukteshwar and Mumbai.