Random Subterranean Mosaic 2012: 2018 - Time frozen in myriad thoughts

By Sabarna Roy

Random Subterranean Mosaic: 2012–2018 is a kaleidoscope of random, yet mysteriously structured to a pattern, fiction, semi-autobiographical, and autobiographical pieces, covering poems, short-shorts, opinions, observations, and conversations.

Roy says: “All my life I have struggled to achieve an optimal lucidity in language and expression that is required to demystify the hidden self and selves and agendas. I hope I have achieved this in a large measure in this fifth book of mine!"

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Point Six Technologies Pvt Ltd
• Release date: May 16, 2019
• ISBN: 9789352018987

Sabarna Roy

SABARNA ROY is Senior Vice President [Business Development] at Electrosteel Castings Limited, an author of eight Literary and three Technical bestselling books, TEDx Speaker, Champions of Change Award 2020 Winner, Times Excellence Award 2021 Winner in Indian Literature, and Golden Glory Award Winner for Critically Acclaimed Bestselling Author of the Year 2021.Sabarna Roy has been awarded the Right Choice Award for Author of Eminence of 2022. He has been selected among the India Today Group: Icons of India.Roy has also received the Best Author to Watch 2022 Award from Indo-Global Entrepreneurship Conclave Delhi organized by Business Connect, and Best Author in Indian English Literature of 2022 at the Ninth Asia Education Summit 2022.Sabarna Roy has received a letter of confirmation from Confederation of International Accreditation Commission [CIAC] Global Foundation stating that he will be receiving an Honorary Doctor of Arts, Honoris Causa from Azteca University, Mexico.

Book preview

1

NETWORKING

On a sultry October afternoon in Bombay I was with my publisher and his Chief Editor at the Coffee Shop of (re-built and re-furbished after the 26/11 events) Taj Mahal Palace Hotel while enjoying the foggy view of the Arabian sea, the hordes of pigeons flying in and out on the adjoining cobblestoned roads and the India Gate along with the desultory conversation that was taking place inside. At one point my hosts concluded with resignation Sabarna, you do not network well; the worrying part is you hate networking as is evident from your lifestyle, and this is not something good for an aspiring modern writer.’’ I was stumped. I agreed with their viewpoint. But I was not willing to change my lifestyle. I am a fiercely private person and suffer the agonies of isolated work of an author. I told them that the word author derives itself from the Latin word auteur, which means ‘to suffer’. Without sufferance how was it possible to become a literary creative writer? They gave me many examples of young and middle-aged Indian writers who had become very popular. I uttered two names: J M Coetzee and Upamanyu Chatterjee. The Chief Editor butted in, But, Sabarna you are just not good enough as they are." I was absolutely defeated.

Networking, the PR Gurus say, is a great and edgy art. It requires constant socialization in all its forms, ready wit, charm, and a vivacious persona. It engages you completely because you are amidst powerful people of all kinds, and you should be able to carry yourself with varied types of people without committing yourself too much to any single point of view, and you have to avoid intensity, introspection, and self-doubt at all costs.

By that definition, I do not know how to be powerful and be in the company of the powerful in a universe full of strangers.

Yet, at the same time I crave for readership and appreciation like any other writer does.

2

BETRAYAL

Is individual breach of trust/faith a crime? Betrayal is pathologically at the very core of human consciousness. Betrayal originates out of a sensation of power, and satiation of lust, and/or greed. Betrayal in return gives one power, and one becomes an explicit or a strategic bully over a period of time. Sometimes, the person for whom you would take a bullet ends up being the one behind the gun. The higher degree of individual breaches can arguably be classified as crime.

Individual betrayals most of the times go unpunished. There can be, of course, no conceivable/implementable punishment mechanism for individual betrayals. The only recourse to redemption for the betrayed is the natural justice granted by ‘destiny’, which by the way does not exist.

Yet each man kills the thing he loves

By each let this be heard

Some do it with a bitter look

Some with a flattering word

The coward does it with a kiss

The brave man with a sword

- Oscar Wilde, The Ballad of Reading Gaol

3

SILENCE

The impulse to create begins — often terribly, and fearfully — in a tunnel of silence, Adrienne Rich asserted in her spectacular 1997 lecture Arts of the Possible.

Susan Sontag wrote in 1969:

As the activity of the mystic must end in a via negativa, a theology of God’s absence, a craving for the cloud of unknowingness beyond knowledge, and for the silence beyond speech, so art must tend towards anti-art, the elimination of the subject (the object, the image), the substitution of chance for intention, and the pursuit of silence.

4

RANDOMLY

Food of Desire # Balti Meat at the Dhaba in Hotel Claridges on Aurangzeb Road (cunningly re-named by the Modi dispensation as A P J Abdul Kalam Marg) in New Delhi. I have had it many, many times whenever I stayed at The Claridges. I yearn to savor this delicacy many more times in the future.

One of the most peaceful places that I have visited in my life # Khecheolpalri Lake in Peling/Sikkim. It featured in my poem titled Peling published in the poem cycle of Frosted Glass. I spent half a day by this lake. The stillness and quiet of the lake played queer mind games with you. Strangely the surface of the lake is as clean as crystal. Folklore has it: even if a leaf drops on the surface of the lake a bird or a horde of birds would rush flying in from the surrounding mountain-forest to pick it up, and that, fairies and mermaids arise from the depths of the lake on full-moon nights.

Resorts of Desire # Rikinjayi in Shillong by the side of the Barapani Lake. A camera click from the verandah adjoining the room can demonstrate the serenity of the place. How wonderful was it to laze around in the resort for almost a week and get fatter! And, the nights by the fire-place inside the room … thinking, thinking, and thinking …, and finally, falling asleep gradually …

5

DISEASE

You have to kill the disease and not the diseased: is a sermon that floats around in medical parlance. But one reacts fucking cruelly to people with contagious and sexually transmitted diseases. With brutal prejudice and bias! And, that too by family, colleagues, and friends, and, many a times by the medical fraternity. A few months back I had a strange skin infection, which looked like herpes but symptomatically was not. The bespectacled well-made-up attractive lady doctor (MD in Medicine) at Apollo Clinic to whom I went refused to touch me (for checking my blood pressure) on the pretext that my skin infection could be herpes, and then it was of course contagious, and she would not like to be infected, and so … She prescribed the wrong medicines and offered wrong treatment, which had to be reversed by consulting two more doctors, who confirmed that my ailment was not herpes, and even if it was it was not as contagious enough to warrant a doctor not to touch a patient for checking his blood pressure.

6

PETS AND GARDENS

We all originate out of the ancient, primitive wilderness. Man by virtue of his intelligent consciousness created civilization by manipulating and destroying nature and its other living constituents, and finally bred domesticity into his life. Domesticity further bred a strange loneliness, which created a need for alternative companionship. Instead of running back to the wilderness for seeking unfettered freedom (like Michael K in the Life, and Times of Michael K by J M Coetzee) among nature comprising animals in their natural habitat, and flora, and fauna, and feeding himself of his own produce, he started domesticating timid animals, and bringing flora and fauna to his own home in the form of pets and gardens, respectively. Adopting nature is adopting death. It requires an earnestness, which you find in the fictional character of Michael K and not yourself. Whereas domesticating nature is adopting ‘love for animals and nature’. After I had read Michael K I could not read any book or watch any movie for around two months; it had had such a telling impact on me. Yes, you have guessed it right – I am not in favor of keeping pets at home or growing gardens at home. Although my father’s house has aesthetically grown gardens in the front-yard, back-yard, car track, and on the terrace, thanks to my mother’s (who is no more since 2009) groundwork and the hardworking gardeners working in the house, we have never had pets since our childhood. I must confess: I have a strange love for aquariums. We had a large aquarium in our house when I was a child.

7

DEBJANI AND BAZAARS

Debjani, unlike me, has the habit of going to bazaars of all kinds and making assorted random purchases – clothes, cosmetics, machines and appliances (required for domestic purposes), fast food, readymade food items including sweetmeats, gifts to be given on occasions, fish, meat, spices, grocery items, and the list is unending – personally after lot of socialization, selection, supervision, inspection, and introspection. This way she becomes a very popular person and a power-center in the bazaars she visits often. She also does the same thing at various melas (fairs), which is the in-thing nowadays. Mornings are for her school whose wards mostly comprise the Muslim under-privileged section of Rajarhat. This she has single-handedly and by sincere effort, sheer grit, determination, and entrepreneurship converted from a loss-making entity to a profit making entity in a few years in spite of the many odds and adversities. Most of her evenings are for her sojourns to various bazaars of Salt Lake, VIP Road, and New Town areas. A few months back she played a few marvelous innings at the Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar of Istanbul.

8

GULMARG

Resorts of Desire # Highlands Park in Gulmarg, Jammu and Kashmir, is a family-run resort, which was constructed in 1965 for Indira Gandhi’s official trips to Srinagar and Gulmarg. Here, traditional Kashmiri hospitality meets celluloid history. The hotel’s Bobby suite is one in which Bollywood darlings Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia were locked up for the famous 1970s hit Hum Tum Ek Kamre Mein Bandh Ho. The hotel is a favorite among cinema fans and the Bollywood film fraternity, who often stay here while shooting against the backdrop of spectacular snow-covered mountain slopes.

I stayed in Highlands Park in 2006; we had booked two suites – Suite numbers 20 and 24. Suit 24 with its wonderful teak furniture, Kashmiri hand-woven carpets and a marvelous fireplace offered a panoramic view of the surrounding mountains. It was raining in Gulmarg, and snow was falling in the upper reaches. Apart from watching the beautiful sights around, I was also reading Milan Kundera’s Innocence warmed by the glow of the fire place. I finished the book by late afternoon.

Friends might know Gulmarg is the Capital of Winter Sports in the world. The French have heavily invested here in terms of a ropeway that takes you up to 11,500 feet and within 1.5 km of the Line of Control. This is also the point from where the skiing track starts. I have gone up to this point and found the experience exhilarating. Another fun activity in Gulmarg is cycling on the undulating terrain around the Golf Course.

9

KANGRA VALLEY

Valleys of Desire # I visited the Kangra valley in 1979 with my parents. I was 12 years old and the landscapes of the valley had a dramatic effect on my mind. Till this day, the views, and the sightings linger in my mind’s eye. The Kangra valley is one of the most picturesque valleys of lower Himalayas. The valley, sheltered by the sublime Dhauladhar range, is green and luxuriant. It provides a mix of places to be visited. Dharamshala is full of Buddhist air whereas ancient Hindu Temples like Bajreshwari Devi, Chamunda Devi, Baijnath Shiv temple, and Jwala Devi ji dot the country side.

The history of Kangra valley dates back to the Vedic times more than 3500 years ago. The area was exposed to successive invasions, the last being the British domination of the princes of many small hill states. Despite the onslaughts and political upheavals, the arts and crafts of the region continued to develop and found lyrical expressions. Exquisite designed shawls and miniature paintings of this region are internationally appreciated.

10

CHILDHOOD SNACKS

The snack items (any one of them at a time) that I would revel in during my childhood in the winters in Ludhiana after a long game of cricket used to be: Aloo Tikki [sometimes home-made, sometimes from a street vendor in the Model Town Market]; Jala-hua Shakkarkandi (Sweet Potato) Chat [always from a street vendor outside the Gurudwara near the Model Town Market], and Pineapple Pastry [from Ahluwalia Sweet Shop in the Model Town Market].

11

VEMBANAD LAKE

Lakes of Desire # in 2004 we visited Kerala and spent a lot of our time at The Taj Kumarakom Lake Resort situated by the side of Vembanad Lake. Kerala has a number of such lakes. The first and foremost is the green algae-rich Vembanad lake 15 km from Kottayam (Kumarakom). It is the longest lake in India. It is part of an extensive wetland system with the largest source of surface water. A number of rivers flow into the lake making it deep and vast.

The lake is divided into two halves by a saltwater barrier and you can see the difference between the brackish and fresh water. It was constructed to prevent intrusion of sea water. Just cruising along the lake can make your trip worthwhile, as you can see parts of three districts, which surround the lake.

The bird sanctuary can also be seen nearby; the sanctuary is a home to various migratory birds from all over the world. The serene lake comes alive during Onam with a spectacular water regatta – the snake boat races. It is indeed amazing to watch oarsmen, at least a hundred in one boat, slice their way through the waters to the fast rhythm of their own full-throated singing.

We spent three complete days exploring the length and breadth of the lake from morning till afternoon on a two-tiered boat completely and exclusively hired for us.

We spent three complete days exploring the length and breadth of the lake from morning till afternoon on a two-tiered boat completely and exclusively hired for us.

12

CHILKA

In 1998 during autumn, a group of my colleagues and I detoured from Bhubaneshwar to Chilka to taste golden fried prawns on the verandah of the OTDC Tourist Lodge overlooking the lagoon.

Chilka Lake, nestled in the heart of coastal Odisha, is Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon with water spread ranging from 1165 sq km in the rainy season to 906 sq km in the dry season and is nestled in the heart of the coastal Odisha. It extends from Bhusandpur in Puri district in the North to Rambha-Malud in Ganjam district in the South, separated from the Bay of Bengal by a 60 km long narrow strip of marshy islands and sand-flats.

Some of the prominent islands like Nalabana, Kalijal, Somolo, Honeymoon, Break-fast, Birds, and Rajahansa inhabited by small subsistence fishermen families, are popular destinations for daily boat trips. Because of its rich bio-diversity and socio-economic importance, Chilka was designated as a Ramsar site in 1981 to afford better protection.

Chilka is recognized as one of the most important wetlands in the world because it is home to a phenomenal variety of birds. Chilka Lake offers visitors a spectacular display of its colorful avian charms in a thousand different hues presented by over 160 species in the peak season between November and February. The lake and its reed islands teem with nesting birds – white bellied sea eagles, ospreys, golden plovers, sand pipers, flamingos, pelicans, shovellers, gulls, include migratory ones flying great distances from Iran, Central Asia, and Siberia.

13

JAIPUR – NIROS

Whenever I am in Jaipur (I am there almost once a month) I eat most of my meals at the Niros Restaurant. Niros Restaurant is situated at Mirza Ismail Road, Ashok Nagar, Jaipur. Niros has been on duty for more than 65 years and still serves classic Indian (Rajasthani, Mughlai, and North Indian); Continental, and Chinese fare. Under its mirrored roof, masses tuck into vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.

My favorite dishes here are: grilled fish, chicken steak (on plate, and not sizzler), lal maans with crispy tandoori roti, vegetable kofta, corn palak, baingan bharta, and chicken-malai kebab. I have never had any Chinese food at Niros till date. The dessert: Niros Special, which is partly pudding, partly cake, and partly ice-cream – a real roller-coaster for your tongue.

14

A FAVORITE QUOTATION

The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.

-Albert Camus, The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt

15

A COMMON STRAIN IN WEST

BENGAL POLITICS

The future of