ChoudhuryNama

Partition is now a distant memory.
For Ma n Baba it turned their world topsy turvy.
She came from landed gentry
He a gold medalist then from Calcutta University
Starting all over in utter penury.

A further twist to an eventful life.
This scholarly man enlisted in army rank n file.
Their quality of life spiralled downwards.
The first generation learnt afterwards
through Ma's reflection on a more joyous time.

Ma's life had many moments extraordinary.
Consigned as she was to a life in purgatory.
Age 1 n trying to suckle her dead mother on the pyre.
Her Grandmother arrived to this trial by fire
And is said to thereafter have lost her sensibility.

Rani's formative years were spent in the lap of luxury.
A benevolent zamindar father n a village doting on her sincerity.
She was cloaked in an aura of goodness
Her simplicity just knew no harness
Virtues in her we saw lifelong n know brought divine ecstasy.

Jabalpur n Delhi remain etched forever
Jharna, Randhir, Geeta
Sapna, Devdutta n Jaya
The brood enshrined in this saga
The annals of this ChoudhuryNama.

One characteristic all of them shared.
Good looks that turned many a head.
Only Randhir(Dada) temporally enjoyed the fruits of this virtue
Though for the others attention did at times make it an issue
With more regrets later for not knowing the value of what they had.