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This month's Goanet operations sponsored by an Anonymous Donor ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A POET AND A RIVER: 'LAST BUS TO VASCO' REFUELS IN THE HEART OF INDIA Fascinated by the lore of the Narmada river, Brian Mendonça author of Last Bus to Vasco: Poems from Goa (2006), now reprinted, set off on Mahashivratri from Nizamuddin station, New Delhi at 4 pm on the 2190 Mahakoshal Express bound for Jabalpur. South of Nizamuddin, 2190 is scheduled to halt at Jhansi at 10.40 pm. 2779 Goa Express labouring north from Vasco, bound for Nizamuddin is scheduled to leave Jhansi at 11.55 pm. As the Mahakoshal was delayed, both trains 'met' at Jhansi station at midnight. On that midnight hour . . . a poem beckoned: Origins -brian mendonça In the heart of India at the midnight hour one can always return to where one started from if one wishes. Vasco or Delhi, depending on what you consider your point of origin at that point of time. on the margin of night or the break of day (Jhansi stn, Uttar Pradesh 2190 Mahakoshal Express NZM-JBP, 0100 hrs 17 Feb 07 >From Jhansi, 2190 swings east via Mahoba-Manikpur-Banda towards Jabalpur, whereas 2779 presses on towards Nizamuddin via Agra. Transfixed by the immensity of the Narmada at Bhedaghat and its awesome cascade, a tribute to the only river in India which flows East to West was made. The title was inspired by Bill Aitken's chapter in Seven Sacred Rivers (New Delhi: Penguin, 1992) Sweet Narmada -brian mendonça Yes I came to pause by your waters as you collected yourself in limpid clarity. Your terrifying descent made me almost merge with your being but your soft sheepish eddies carried my soul to shore. (17 Feb 2007 Dhuandhar Falls Bhedaghat, near Jabalpur, MP) Brian's affair with Madhya Pradesh had begun almost a decade ago with his 'To the Ragini of Parsvanath Temple' (Khajuraho, 1999) - a poem which was published by the Sahitya Akademi in 2004. The more recent 'Budni' (2004) included in Last Bus to Vasco, describes the moment when the 2779 Goa Express crosses the Narmada in the dense twilight. His other MP poems have been written in Gwalior, Dharakhoh and Ujjain. One spring evening, an ecstatic Manu Dash, an Oriya poet, now in Shahdol, MP called Brian in Delhi and declared that he wanted to anthologize Brian in his forthcoming collection of contemporary Indian poetry. Manu moved from Shahdol to meet Brian at Jabalpur to co-host a poet's meet at the residence of Mr Gyanranjan - the renowned editor of the Hindi literary journal'Pahal'. After avid discussions on poetry and translations into Hindi of poems from 'Last Bus to Vasco' Brian left for Delhi clutching a Penguin paperback from their 'Yatra Books' stable by Amrutlal Vegad entitled 'Soundarya ki Naddi, Narmada' (2006) ['Narmada-The River of Beauty'(trans from the Hindi)]. It was time to brush up his Hindi. But not before he had a taste of the woman from Satna: To the Maiden from Satna -brian mendonça And you night-woman with the faraway eyes bedecked in bangles 'ardhanareeshwara' Why do you scoop your belongings into a small travel bag carefully folding your black shawl? Are you fleeing from or to love in such precocious haste? You keep the 'vrat' of Shiva obeisance to the Destroyer Life or Death -what have you decreed today? as you stretch yourself on the berth besides mine. (17 Feb 2007 Sat Satna, Madhya Pradesh 2190 Mahakoshal Express Nizamuddin-Jabalpur) Note: night woman: dark lady ardhanareeshwara: Shiva is often referred to as "Ardhanareeshwara", and the feminine part of him embodying Parvathi, his consort, is thought of as being more powerful. vrat: fast observed the previous day by devotees of Shiva on 'Mahashivratri' i.e the night of Shiva. Married women fast for the well-being of their husbands and sons. Each new moon is dedicated to Shiva, but Mahashivratri is especially important because it is the night when he danced the 'Tandava', his cosmic dance.