Ruskin Bond: THE BLACK CAT (full text)

Ruskin Bond: THE BLACK CAT (full text)

'The Black Cat' by Ruskin Bond / Episode 3 (14:03) / akashvaniair (YouTube)

Kishalay Sinha [G]

Priya Kumar 

Priya Kumar deserves recognition, not as a motivational speaker (I am bored by "motivational speakers" who are so heartbroken and despondent that they themselves need lollipop "motivation"; One does not like being lectured at by tiny little lilliputian creatures) BUT as a speaker of fluent English. 

Kishalay Sinha [G]

A WOMAN AND DEATH 

From Maria's diary, on the eve of buying her ticket back to Brazil:

Once upon a time, there was a bird. He was adorned with two perfect wings and with glossy, colourful, marvellous feathers. In short, he was a creature made to fly about freely in the sky, bringing joy to everyone who saw him.

One day, a woman saw this bird and fell in love with him. She watched his flight, her mouth wide in amazement, her heart pounding, her eyes shining with excitement. She invited the bird to fly with her, and the two travelled across the sky in perfect harmony. She admired and venerated and celebrated that bird.

But then she thought: He might want to visit far-off mountains! And she was afraid, afraid that she would never feel the same way about any other bird. And she felt envy for the bird's ability to fly.

And she felt alone.

And she thought. 'I'm going to set a trap. The  next time the bird appears, he will never leave again.'

...

She looked at the bird every day. There he was, the object of her passion, and she showed him to her friends, who said: 'Now you have everything you could possibly want.' However, a strange transformation began to take place... 

... what had thrilled her about the bird was his freedom, the energy of his wings in motion...

Without the bird, her life lost all meaning, and Death came knocking at her door.

'Why have you come?' she asked Death.

'So that you can fly once more with him across the sky,' Death replied. 'If you had allowed him to come and go, you would have loved and admired him even more; alas, you now need me in order to find him again.' 

(p. 215 - 217) 

Paulo Coelho: "Eleven Minutes" [erotic novel about a pr. searching for "Love"], Translated from the Portuguese [I see] by Ms. Margaret Jull Costa, published by HarperCollins* Publishers India.

Mnemonic:

* তা হারপার

* তা হাৰপাৰ

* ता हारपार 

(in Bishnupriya Manipuri, My "mother tongue"/"father tongue")

A PROSTITUTE 

Once upon a time, there was a prostitute called Maria. Wait a minute. 'Once upon a time' is how all the best children's stories begin and 'prostitute' is a word for adults. How can I start a book with this apparent contradiction? [I see no contradiction. This novel is a porn book, almost, written in superior English. And today's modern "children" are virtual (not virtuous) adults. - G]

(p. 1)

Paulo Coelho: "Eleven Minutes"

Eleven minutes book review (2:52)/Nis Bu (YouTube)

Kishalay Sinha [G]

A WEIRD-SOUNDING POEM / A VERY STRANGE POEM 

For I am the first and the last

I am the venerated and the despised

I am the prostitute and the saint

I am the wife and the virgin

I am the mother and the daughter

I am the arms of my mother

I am barren and my children are many

I am the married woman and the spinster

I am the woman who gives birth and she 

who never procreated 

I am the consolation for the pain of birth

I am the wife and the husband

And it waa my man who created me

I am the mother of my father

I am the sister of my husband 

And he is my rejected son 

Always respect me

For I am the shameful and the magnificent one 

(p. xi)

(From Paulo Coelho: "Eleven Minutes")

CLUES TO THE PUZZLE: (1) countless "rebirths" or "reincarnations" (2) body transformations (3) clones 

Kishalay Sinha [G]

*

O, Mary, conceived without sin,

pray for us who turn to you. Amen.

(p. v)

(From Paulo Coelho: "Eleven Minutes")

Kishalay Sinha [G]

My 4 QUESTIONS:

1. Was Mary conceived in the womb by s. int. or did she grow inside the womb of a surrogate "mother" after the initial fertilization inside a test tube "without sin" (if s. int. is considered a "sin")?

2. If a female clone of Adam was made from Adam's body, was a female clone of Satan made from Satan's body too? 

3. Why do "Mary" and "Meera" sound alike?

4. Why do Christ খ্রীষ্ট ख्रीष्ट and কষ্ট कष्ट sound like Keshto কেষ্ট Krishna?

(When do I have time to think of such penetrating questions? I think all the time. - G)

Kishalay Sinha [G]