“YET DO REMEMBER"

 

“If ever in remembrance

Tears do not well up in your eyes

Yet do remember.”

(Translated by Rumela Sengupta)

Whenever I listen to Tagore’s song 'Tobu mone rekho,' all the strings of my heart break. I can't listen to this song, but I can't not listen to it either. Sometimes I feel that the thought of anybody forgetting me is more painful than my death.

I know that I haven't forgotten the Robin that made a nest in the Star Magnolia tree last year. Anybody that breathes cannot be forgotten. But anything that doesn't breathe - like the moon, like the river, like the soil - can they be forgotten?

Even if I did not make any impression on his soul, even if tears do not start flowing down his eyes thinking about me - still let him remember. Let him remember all the pain, remember all the love. As human life is the story of eternal elixir.

I do not want to forget any stories. So, I bought a ring made of forget-me-not flowers the other day. It is made of real pressed flowers. They are light blue, with a little yellow in the middle.

I remember reading about the birth of forget-me-not flowers somewhere. God had finished giving color to all the flowers. He was stowing away his paintbrushes. In a very faint voice, a small flower then asked God, 'Oh God, where is my color? Forget me not.' God had no other color except a very light blue. Forget-me-not was very happy to be given that little bit of color.

May humans be content after their last war.