Homeland after Eighteen Years - A 48 hour Travelogue

K L Chowdhury
47
Homeland after Eighteen Years
Thankfully, the huge Chinars
dammed the pitch a little bit,
but, at the first glow of dawn,
the kites on the Chinars took over
and, soon after,
a clutch of crows
joined the chorus.
With the first rays of the sun
the sky came to, and the river too,
and I quietly slipped out
for a long morning stroll
in the lawns of the guest house
and along the river bank,
that used to be my favorite haunt.
The subtle fragrance of the roses -
yellow, white and pink -
breezed into me
and chased weariness away,
but it were the golden marigolds,
the marigold of Kashmiri vintage,
that gladdened my heart as never before
and brought back the spirit of devotion,
for, they have always remained
an invariable article
of our religious tradition.
I picked one and tossed it in the water
as my offering to the vale of Kashmir.