RANJANA SHARAN SINHA

 

Hydrangea

 

The big, beautiful blooms

of Hydrangea in August

near the river Thames in London--

Pom-poms of pink, white and blue,

touch my heart and go deep...

deeper and deeper still

evoking a forgotten memory

that takes me back

down the vista of years:

 

I see a grandmother

sitting in her home temple

with idols of deity, religious texts,

and fresh flowers

plucked from the front yard.

She is busy making

a garland of marigolds.

 

A girl goes running to her

with a Flower Magazine

and shows her the picture

of bright clusters printed in it--

" Look Nani, these flowers!"

Oh, amazing! I wish I could

decorate this temple

with such flowers!"

 

"You know, these flowers

are found in cool places

and are rare in our country,

they are found mostly in hill stations

HYDRANGEA!!"

Unable to pronounce the name,

the grandmother takes her

eyes off the magazine

and concentrates on the garland.

 

August turns into a strange month,

Can't say if it is cruel or kind:

The opulent expanse of hydrangea,

and the awakened memory within--

I wish you were with me today!

 

A Chameleon In The Cupboard

 

Someone told me

that chameleon mostly

lived in rainforests

and dry deserts, but

I have seen such creatures

in every book and cranny--

cunningly camouflaged

blending their colour

with environment.

 

Chameleonic persons--

Minor variants of the

colour- changing reptile

with a pair of telescopic eyes!

Who can notice their

opportunistic versatility?

 

The teenage girl couldn't see

right through the brightness

and was caught within

the web of pretentious colours.

She couldn't come out

without getting deflowered --

Sunken...panicked...naked...

Hammered by intrusive thoughts

she wished to drink

from the river Lethe!

 

The boy, neither raw nor immature,

was abducted in broad daylight

under the anaesthesia of

deceptive colouration:

The facade with hues and shades

crumbled revealing the true colour.

Today, I encounter

a chameleon in the cupboard

and the algebra of colours

becomes even more complicated!

 

The River Godavari

 

Godavari in the arms of evening.

The hush of descending hours;

A hazy surreal beauty in the making

Beyond the human powers!

 

The horizon sun-- a big red zircon

Suspended with a chain of gold,

Like pendent hangs on her fair bosom:

Reflections on the ripples' fold.

 

Cool and innocuous the river flows

Alive in an endless panoply

Of agony and ecstasy, joy and sorrow

Thinning the line between real and fantasy.

 

She carries immortal mysteries of mortals

Sometimes frozen, sometimes moving,

Ashes of the deceased, the devotee's flowers,

Abode of psyches dead and living!

 

Fossils of thoughts in depths unknown,

Curiously appear on the surface terrain--

I look at Godavari to find the answers

And feel the waters in my vein!

 

RANJANA SHARAN SINHA

 

DR. RANJANA SHARAN SINHA: Recipient of a number of national and international awards including a commendation from the former President of India, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, for her poetry, Dr. Ranjana Sharan Sinha is a bilingual poet, author, academic and retd professor of English, RTM Nagpur University, Nagpur. She is a well- known voice in Indian Poetry in English with international recognition. Two poems from her Poetry Collection SCENTS AND SHADOWS are included in Postgraduate University Syllabus (Purnea University). Her poems, short stories, articles and research papers have been widely published in highly- acclaimed dailies, magazines, e-zines, archives and journals in print and online. Her poems have been published in more than 40 world class anthologies including those of WPM. Her poems have been translated and published in a number of languages -- German, Greek, Polish, Spanish, Albanian, Russian, Persian, Nepali, Chinese and more. She has authored and published 09 books in different genres and 50 research papers on various themes and subjects. The topic of her PhD thesis is "Sri Aurobindo and the Epic Tradition" that covers both the eastern and the western epic traditions in relation to the magnum opus 'Savitri'. She has also done a UGC-sponsored MRP on comparative Romantic and Chhayavadi literature. She is associated with many literary organisations and poetry groups and is one of the members of editorial board of Our Poetry Archive.

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