Satadru Sen

You did not die. Everything is eternally preserved. Einstein knows. You are enveloped. In my heart, in my arms, forever, in endless lives to come. Play, just play.

Sen Sahib: I´m ever grateful to have learned from you many years ago. You introduced me to India and it changed my life. I wish we could have a chat these days. I´d tell you again how much impact you had on me and many others. Rest easy, Professor. Thanks for the adventures.

Memory is sacred. Remembrance is the signature of life while merely moving on is the mechanical, lifeless and blind march of time. It signifies nothing. I remember you, my beloved son. I feel your pulse beat in my blood every moment of the day. I lay you down to sleep every night. Forever with us and never left behind is my message to all who have died. Live in us and with us.

As 7th October draws near Bapi's memories come to mind. So affectionate and humorous. We have to accept his absence however painful.....and life has to go on. Such is the law of the universe.

Two years already! And what a year 2020 has turned out to be! I miss Satadru's mordant wit, his intellect, his erudition even more during this calamitous year than I had done earlier.

A year without a brilliant colleague, a great friend and, above all, one of the finest, most imaginative scholars in his field. Why do the best people go so early?

Time is not always the best healer but often a reminder, in spite of the absence, of a perpetual presence not only in the hearts of close friends and family but also in every nook and corner of the house, along the corridors he has walked, the books he has touched...wherever he has been, he is still....

You swam into my belly
A tadpole from a pool
By the river Satadru.
You nested inside me
Grew into a full-size male baby
Then slid into this lit-up world
Howling first, then hushed
Into contented quietude.

As you grew inside my heart
My heart expanded to fit you
Even as my belly shrank.
My body birthed you
Cord was cut.
My soul never pushed you out.
You remained.
The waters there never broke.
You forever splashed and played
In my...