URB Scribbles

It is on occasions when I see a creation as glorious and extravagant as you that I realize the myth of the creator being just. It is then when I realize the injustice embedded in the very existence of meager mortals like me. For if god was to be just, how does one address this perplexing dichotomy in his own creation? How does one then explain the existence of a creation as sublime as you at one end of the spectrum with something as quotidian as me at the nethermost end? It is on occasions like this that I think of the fine spring afternoon when the creator in the most leisurely hours of the clock must have taken up to create you, culminating in his tour-de-force. I stand baffled at the perfection of each careful stroke with which you were embellished. I remain awestruck at the manifestation of excellence that is you. Despite being battered at length in every mathematics test throughout high school I can still appreciate the geometric comprehension of the creator when I...

Painting: Leonid Afremov. Have you told him about me? About those endless chatters, and those sleepless nights?? For if you haven’t, that’s not you! Have you called him ever at the middle of the night? Because you can’t sleep on a stormy night, without someone to hold you tight? For if you haven’t, that’s not you! Have you shown him your childhood pics Tiny nose and fluffy cheeks, full of glory on your father’s lap?? For if you haven’t, that’s not you!                                                 Uddipta Ranjan                                ...

Next time you wish to get Porkified to satiety in Delhi, think of this place called The Chef. Tucked quietly amidst the razzmatazz of Humayunpur (some call it Safdarjung Enclave ) this tiny joint shall never let you down. At least that never happened to me in the last two years of my relationship with this place! I love the place to the moon and back, and it reciprocates. Never seeking back loyalty. The bond that the two of us have come to share in the past two years outsteps all petty manifestations of love. Tired of the humdrum of the hostel food I find solace here and hence I keep going back. “The Chef”, specialized in “Chinese and Tibetan Cuisine” is what it calls itself and I caution you not to go by its not-so-glamorous and worn-out appearance. On contrary to its ordinarily confined floor space, it offers an extraordinary list of savour bewildering enough to keep you teetering at the brink. Populated by merely four tables, the place at its best accommodate...

Tales of Tea: Hot and Cold Do you remember me holding you in my hand??? On a spring evening, fabricating tales untold??? Do you remember us piecing together dreams??? And fantasies of a mellifluous world, warm and bold? Alas! You do not... For now you are old! Now you are cold...                                   Uddipta Ranjan                            

The variegated satin umbrella, that you had left behind. It has begun giving up colour this time The torrential downpour and the scorching sun, it held me up against all. But it has begun giving up colour this time. I held it tight when the wind was strong, I flaunted it dry once the rain was gone. But it has begun giving up colour this time. How much I wished to return it back. Before it began giving up colour this time… Alas! I know not where you stay, I know not what you are called. And it began giving up colour this time…                                                               Uddipta Ranjan, Somewhere                            

The Melancholic Fall Yesterday you were there, high up, in all your youthful eminence. Staring down at me while I aspired to be with you. Why did you fall my love? To be crushed beneath the unruly steps… Before the ruthless morning breeze. blows you off. Let me take you home… In the lap of my dusty memoir, you shall rest with your remaining glory. As a reminiscent of my unfinished love story…                                           Uddipta Ranjan

Image Courtesy : http://wvpublic.org/post/five-reasons-west-virginians-love-trump#stream/0 (Published in The Shillong Times, 09/02/2017)  Among many other rapid alterations brought up by the American president Donald J. Trump after his taking of office, the termination of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is one worth talking of. The TPP is a trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and the United States of America (till January 2017 when Trump decide to abandon it). The TPP aimed at reducing both tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade between the signatories and establish an investor-state dispute settlement mechanism. Once in operation, it was expected to be the largest regional trade bloc in the history with an annual gross domestic product of nearly $28 trillion, i.e., roughly 40 percent of global GDP and one-third of world trade. Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama had carefully stee...