Sunday, August 10, 2014

Another visit to Mahilpur: Manzil ke pass

Coincidences sometimes give substance to what appears to be a vacuous and gloomy existence.
Take this.

I went to my village, Mahilpur today - and it has always been a pilgrimage I make there to be with the people whose memory is both a blessing and a discomforting reminder of my heavy guilt. I have often felt that the soil of my village has a way of knowing what I am passing through.

This is a village my mother did not leave even once,not even to visit her parental village. The only exception was once when she had to be taken away in an unconscious state for treatment. Whenever there was an occasion to visit my maternal grandmother's home, it was my father who would make the trip. Mother always felt strongly and always said gently that only death should take her away from the home she was married into.

Today as I took the final curve towards my ancestral home, this is what greeted me , coming out from a shop at the entrance gate:

"Zindagi ne kar dia, jab bhi udaas
Aa gaye gabhra ke hum manzil ke paas..."

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