Beautiful Lives in Verse

1st January 2018.Haus Khas, New Delhi.

Meeting the gracious Sheila Dixit one last time.

I walked around that parched park

Wasted under a mantle of winter sediment

Dust weighing down every leaf.

In sharp contrast to my visit  during the monsoons when

The sun rays had sprayed the society through

A canopy of greenery of varied trees.

A young helper answered the door.

I stepped inside the drawing room

And saw her sitting on the sofa, by the oil heater

Running her frail fingers over the ridges

In an effort to draw more warmth.

When I entered, she looked up 

To greet me with a smile as warm 

As her oversized cashmere sweater

Which engulfed her petite frame.

We talked about the beautiful things 

Life blessed us mortals with.

She smiled a lot and spoke ill of none.

Her eyes were pools of contentment

In a visage etched rich with lines of experience.

The beauty she reflected as an individual

Was  ever graceful . She said

She had expectations from none. And 

Like the little girl she had once been

Whose ambition in life

Was to emulate Florence Nightingale

And serve  people;

She remained content

Secure in the knowledge  that 

She had given her best in the discharge of her duties.

That morning, on the first day of the New Year,

As I made my way from her home-

It crossed my mind that 

We could converse in leisure

Of things random in nature

For no favour seekers 

With requests were present

As she no longer held a post of power.

‘The  satisfaction one experiences out of doing good

Is an unparalleled experience,’she said.

I agree.

**************

Sheila Dixit: 31 March 1938–2July,2019.

The Beauty of Anuradha Baideu

Your laughter, a jubilate of 

The clink of champagne glasses 

To cheer in delight,

Your words sparkled like lilting songs of passerines

Squashing all dread in every gloom,

Your silent smiling presence  

A touch of gentle breeze soothing flushed cheeks.

Radiating warmth and laughter

To all around you

Was your life’s artwork.

Aesthetically giving, gifting,

Your passion.

When the stars aligned,

Graceful as a swan

You bowed to exit

Like a spectacular sunset 

Leaving us in awe at the exquisite

Love and dignity you bestowed upon life.

Even with a standing ovation

Requesting an encore

You left a stark stage  

You had to go, free your soul,

Leaving all whose lives you touched 

Bedewed with your benignity.

**************

2nd January, 2021.Kharguli, Guwahati.

Mrs.Anuradha Bezbaruah, 10th October.1947–1sth January, 2021.

******************

Hullo…. Mamoni Baideu

She walks in beauty
With words of wisdom probably Never spoken in a sweeter vein

By a fairer woman.

She reveals a wealth of knowledge With astonishingly clear eyes Only to hide them in mystery
With the dark tresses that shine With a life of their own.

If ever there was

A simple pleasure known in merely meeting a person:

It surely must be like
The pleasure in meeting you.

***************

Nilakshi Borgohain wrote in 2001, New Delhi, when asked to speak a few words on

Dr. Mamoni Raisom Goswami,Jnanpith Awardee. Dr Goswami 14th November,1942– 29th November 2011.

.