Wordsmith : Time Does Not Flow

Dr. Sitakant Mahapatra Time does not flow - people flow- the living flow The cloud in its chocolate coat flows off, saying good bye to my father who sits, leaning against the wall on the front veranda, staring at the sky like a statue. The next day,father, back to us , in the same fashion flows off toward the horizon , with a setting sun.

Bye, bye, say the falling leaves. Woodcutters fell the weeping tree the next day, and the tree takes its farewell from soil it has stood on for years. Suddenly, houses, cremation grounds, rivers, forest, paddies, swamps, wife and sons, friends and all the images of infinite time are visible and flow off toward darkness. That darknessA

is your shadow : you must know, where we are floating A and why? (Dr. Sitakant Mahapatra, a social anthropologist, is the recipient of many awards including the Jnanpith Award in 1993. He received the Padma Bhushan in 2002 and Padma Vibushan in 2011 for literature. Mahapatra has held many coveted positions including those of Secretary, Culture, Government of India, President UNESCO's World Decade for Cultural Development (1994�1996), Senior Fellow of Harvard University, Honorary Fellow of International Akademi of Poets, Cambridge University, and the Chairman of the National Book Trust, India. He has published over 20 poetry collections in Oriya, four travelogues, over 30 contemplative works, apart from numerous translations. )