Two of my friends and I headed to Park Street cemetery. I had always wanted to go there after reading "Gorosthane Sabdhan (Beware in the cemetery)", a story by Satyajit Ray. And since my college is in Park Street it was all the more easier....
Once we headed in and signed our name on a register, we were allowed access. And the experience was amazing. For a place right beside Park street, one of the busiest roads in Kolkata, the place was amazingly silent.
There were just two things visible, trees and graves, and lots of both. Walking among the tombstones was an amazing feeling. I never knew that a place of death could be so peaceful. And the tombstones had so many different shapes and sizes.
There were large ones, small ones, dome like, pillar like, pyramid like and some just flat. The people in them now seemed ancient, with dates from 1700's and 1800's to be found inscribed in marble, marking the memory of one who was then recently deceased. There were people of all ages there, from infants to old timers. from all spheres of life, army to navy to officers and a lot of others.
After touring a while and sneaking some snaps with a digicam, we sat down. and it felt like we were the only three people alive in the world. The effect of peace the place had was felt by all of us. It was like an invitation to just curl up and sleep and just forget that there was a world outside. Its weird, but that is how it felt. We sat and discussed death, fate, spirits and a lot of other things we would normally have never discussed.
It was soon time to head back to class. And we took leave of the dead, and hoping to come back for small visits now and again, until the final visit at the end of it all.
PS: The title of this post is made by my friend. I thought it was really nice.
This post has led to a sudden realisation that I have never been to a cemetery. I am surprised because this fact had never completely registered in my consciousness until now. Haha.
ReplyDeleteI want to experience the silence you experienced now. Reading tombstones and building stories around what the lives of those people would have been like seems like such an amazing thing to do :)
When I visit my first cemetery, I will think of you. As creepy as that sounds!
Thanks for followinggg. :)
ReplyDeleteI like your blog!
@Esha
ReplyDeleteYes, you should visit a cemetery at least once, and I mean when you're still alive. :P
The peace there is something totally different and it has a weird , strange feeling of its own that has to be experienced.
It's a pleasure that you'll think of me in a cemetery, its not something that happens everyday. :)
@Disguise
ReplyDeleteThanks. Same here :P
Hey,a really neat blog you have out there.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to hear the silence. Silence has always been so significant at it's own place, all the time.
Hope you drop by my page.
Keep in touch! :)