Purano Shei Diner Kotha.....Sheyi Ki Bhola Jaaye (The Days of Old)

The other night after I got home from work and was lounging in my apartment, I caught myself humming an old bengali tune...one of my dad's favorites & mine too. I went running to my laptop and found the song on the internet. The strains of "Purano Shei Diner Kotha" drifted softly across the room. And with it, so did my chain of thoughts.......to 7 years ago.
I recently got back from a trip to Austin, Tx. Went there from June 7th - June 10th. I should mention tht I went to University in Austin for my Undergraduate/Bachelors degree. I spent a good 3 1/2 years of my life there - those were some years. Memories etched....impressions formed, and experiences built - both sweet and painful! I went back after a long lapse of time (couple of years) to the same sleepy town I'd left behind. I still have a few old friends who were in school with me, and who are now veteran employed residents of the city.

On my first morning in Tx, i felt the blast of humidity hit me. I also noticed the comparitively laid back and slower pace of life than in NYC. Here you won't come across people rushing around like mad, cars honking, phones ringing, subways deafening you with their roar...Oh no! here you'd come across a few cars whizzing across now and then, people walking around in shorts and tanks, the liquor stores nearby with their shades drawn...everyone seemed to be taking a mini siesta to stay away from the heat. How different indeed from daily life!

Took my friend and drove along to good ol' campus around which life had pretty much revolved as a student. Gosh! It did feel strange to be walking the campus routes again?! The same hallways, passing by the Univ. bookstore, the Business school, the Econmics bldg., and the Sciences bldgs where most classes were held, the Libraries & computer labs where I worked as a student for a measly few $$$!! Not much had changed...everything seemed almost the way i left it, except that the students had grown younger and I....a few year older!

Memories came flooding back to me. I remembered the trials and tribulation of classes and exams, of being a new student in this vast university campus - of feeling lonley and homesick - not knowing who to turn to for help or comfort. Slowly, I'd made friends some of whom would eventually become like family, others who would become acquaintences and drift away. I wondered where they all were now and how their lives must have changed since leaving school. We all shared a part of our lives absorbing 'the university experience' in a part of our lives.

My trip to Austin was a very pleasant and refreshing break. I went back to all my old haunts and hung out. the cafe's, the restaurants, 6th street, Kirby Lane, Trudy'd, live music, UT Austin - they were all there...just as I'd left them. :)

Coming back to the present and the other night.....Purano Shei Diner kotha played in the background. This is a famous song by Rabindranath Tagore. It is essentially a song for old friends who come together at a reunion and relive their memories. They promise and pledge to meet again, to keep in touch, to never walk so far away so as to forget each other.

The song goes: Purano Shei Din er Kotha, (O the Day's of Old)
Bhulbi kire...ha aye Oshei (How can you forget those memories...
Chokher Dekha, Praner Kotha (What the eyes took in and the heart felt)
Shei ki bhola jaaye (How can one forget those days)

I first heard this song on a family picnic in India a couple of years ago with my parents. The occassion was a reunion of my dad's old and dearest friends who he spent his Engineering university days with. The emotional reunion and the warmth between all his friends even though some had not met each other in years, was truly heartfelt and endearing. It was a beautiful picnic is a beautiful and serene locale and everyone ended the evening by singing the song. It brought tears to everyone's eyes. Ever since then...I have fallen in love with that song and it holds a special meaning in my life.