From The Quill

 দুর্গা মানে মাটির মূর্তি? দুর্গা আমার রক্ত মাংসের শক্তি। দুর্গা মানে আলোকসজ্জা? পাড়ায় উৎসবে মাতোয়ারা? দুর্গা আমার মশাল হাতে মিছিলের ভিড়ে স্লোগান তোলা। দুর্গা কি আজ সুরক্ষিত পথেঘাটে এই শহরে? উৎসবেতে শবের শোকে দুর্গা কাঁদে অন্তরে। © Suranya

It's 1.30AM on 5th September, 2024. The city of Kolkata is awake as it awaits justice. We have placards, slogans, and protest marches. Thousands are on the streets, young and old. We are singing, dancing, organising street plays, writing poems, and painting streets. Art as a form of protest runs in our veins. I wrote bits and pieces of these writings through the past 27 sleepless nights and sudden feelings of overwhelm. I thought they were too personal to share. Seeing my city in protest today, knowing I have to do my bit, however small, so that tomorrow I can live with self-respect, here's what I do best. Write it all down. It may resonate with some. It may not work with others. But this is for hope. This is for justice. For her who united us in this unbelievable strength to carry on, but had to lose her life for it. I have always been an opinionated woman. Not sure if I was "raised" that way, or the habit of questioning came naturally to me (My parents still warn me...