Dear Saurav Chaliha fans, I have posted below my English translation of Chalihas Habitat. I shall be obliged if I get some critical comments on the translations quality and your suggestions for improvement. Regards, Jiban Goswami Email: jgos98@gmail HABITAT By: Saurav Kumar Chaliha Translated from original Assamese by: Jiban Goswami When I was about the hit the bed at night, I found the bed-sheet missing, the pillows were lying bare without their cases. My wife did say at the breakfast table that morning, “Your bed has become a real eyesore. I’ll give everything to the Dhobi for a wash, how can a man sleep in such a filthy bed , by God, tea-stains, stench of sweat, pillows smeared black with cigarette ash – only you guys can live like this – today the dhobi is supposed to bring back the clothes I had given him earlier, and if he does, I will change the sheet, put in new pillow-cases , otherwise you better brace yourself to spend one night on the bare mattress somehow ¬__ “ So the Dhobi did not bring back the laundry, it seems. It is said that ‘An Englishman’s bedroom is his castle’, and for me my bed is my very personal island of rest and repose, tucked away from the surrounding world___ my one and only intimate abode, my own ‘habitat’ __ like those secluded private islands of the tycoons of Europe and America tucked away somewhere in some far off sea. I am sipping tea and extending the cup for another helping when I noticed that the cup is a different one, not the one I am used to __ “Oh, where did this come from?” While pouring tea she replied,” Why, the new set I purchased yesterday with Preeti baideo from Mukul Stores, you were all praise for it yesterday __” Yes, It is really very good, the design also is excellent, but don’t you think it’s better not to use such fancy stuff all the time, you know how things are here at home, they will all go to pieces in no time__ better bring them out only when we have visitors __ meanwhile stick to my old cup for me, it can hold just the right portions and I also seem to relish it___.” She made her annoyance show on her face and said “ Maybe your tea does not taste like tea if you can’t have it in that worn out chunk of a cup with its handle missing , your finer tastes are all gone it seems, by God ___” I could not quite make out if I will ever see my familiar cup on the table again – it’s true that its handle has chipped off a little (not surprising, the way the maid throws them around) but how does that matter, as long as the tea is good __ “ Think it over anyway, and do whatever seems OK to you ,” I said with diplomacy and as I got up from the table she said ,”And yes, don’t forget the bleaching powder today, I keep telling you the bathroom has become so slippery, I was about to fall there last night . It seems you will come to your senses only after I break my arms or legs__ get the bleaching today, don’t forget , the bathroom has to be thoroughly scrubbed – oh yes, get one Nil- Odour too, the bathroom is stinking, can’t you guys even smell, don’t you guys have anything like nose and ears , by God ___” “Nil-Odour is it? OK.” I hastened put an end to this bathroom talk. Or she would have started about a Geyser __ everyone has Geysers in bathrooms these days , only the other day Mrs Borbora was talking about putting a new one in their bathroom __ but the ramshackle bathroom that we have, its peeling floor somehow patched up by pouring cement on top, where untidy heaps are piling up on the two shelves for soaps and hair oil, the rods for towels and clothes are also becoming wobbly , no one seems to have the time to wash the basin everyday and keep it shining , the mirror too always has cob webs and layers of dust on it, so what is the point in spending thousands of rupees to install a huge gleaming Geyser there___ ( anyway, I got the bleaching powder and a Nil-Odour too, and while passing by the bathroom in the afternoon a new sweetish smell was wafting out of it in place of the dank smell earlier___ Alright then, I may as well sleep tonight on the bare mattress__ suddenly I panicked, is the mosquito net also gone__ but it was there thank God, spared either by her sheer idleness to take it off or by her oversight . “Are you in bed? You would manage to spend the night that way, right? And yes, once the clean laundry is here tomorrow, I will put up the new mosquito net, this one will also go to the laundry tomorrow.” ‘’No, no, that’s not necessary, the new ones do not have those ribbons underneath, the length is also not quite right, can’t be tucked in properly, and quite narrow too___ this one has the right length and breadth to suit me, this one may continue____” “ Oh no, look at its colour now thanks to cigarette smoke, all my objections were in vain, you just won’t give up your stupid habit of smoking under the mosquito net, you like so much to live in filth , by God___” . Whatever it is, at least for tonight I will still have my comfy net ( it has, however, developed a hole on its left side which I have kept closed by a clip stolen from her clothesline ,without telling her of course, because if I did, she would have taken the net away for repairs). I don’t get any time during the day to go through books or papers, the evening’s raucous din of cars also does not die down till about 10 in the night , in fact till 9 two shops placed side by side, both selling cassettes, keep playing cassettes at ear splitting volumes through loudspeakers I entered the island of my ‘habitat’ , only inside it I can now read for an hour or so without hassles ... I recalled that only yesterday I had discussed about ‘Habitat’ with my friend Safiqul Zaman __ Safique lives on the other end of the town on the other side of the railway tracks under the hill, once in a while I go over to his place ( opening a bottle of Woodpecker whisky) to while away some time ( with some soda or water, or sometimes with a Coca Cola. And sizzling hot pakoras fried by Safique’s wife Zebin)__ We usually keep our voices down, but the thundering rumblings of trains and their long shrill whistles often force us to stop talking and suddenly an indeterminate series of sounds like dharrums and dharrungs starts coming from the tin roof overhead__ those are monkeys on a rampage. On the hills behind, people have haphazardly erected houses, some have even come up with RCC buildings , rocks have been demolished, patches of hill have been levelled, bamboo and banana groves have been mowed down__ and as a result all the monkeys living there for ages in seclusion and peace have come downhill in hordes after hordes, have entered houses and fled off with whatever they could lay their hands on, strewn things all over the place inside houses, and have not only become totally unafraid of women and children but have actually started giving them a chase __ . “You know what, pal “Safique says,” What we are seeing here is a reciprocal effect. I mean we have destroyed their habitats, so the monkeys are destroying ours. We have gone berserk cutting down entire forests and destroying the habitats of elephants and they in turn have gone amok to run over villages, destroy standing crops and demolish our habitats__” “Yes,” I say,” Newton’s Third Law __ Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.” “ Right, but Newton’s law should have remained confined strictly to Physics, but it has now intruded into our homes and what dilemma has it not brought in its wake for me – Zebin is not inclined to stay here even for one more day. There is this incessant thundering rumble of trains throughout the day and night but we had adjusted to that and had started tolerating it but on top of that we now have this monkey menace that keeps us tense all the time , that forces us to be in a constant state of alert to drive them away, so Zebin has had enough and does not want to stay here anymore__ but the problem is where do I go, where is the energy or the means to set up a new home, and look here, pal, where can one go, tell me, it is the same everywhere in the city, the same hardships, the same turmoil__ “ I have refilled the empty glasses with a little more Woodpecker, stuffed a pakora into my mouth and said, “Exactly. No place in the city is fit anymore as a habitat of today’s man. Air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, over-crowding, crime, corruption, in fact, the whole world today is unfit for habitation__” Safique has taken a thoughtful sip of the whisky and is saying, ”Yes pal, and the fate of the whole world is dangling today from the hands of the mafia, the terrorists__ at any moment some fanatic fundamentalist somewhere can press the button to launch a nuclear missile__ BANG!__BOOM___ and it will be all over , some mad Dictator somewhere in a moment of frenzied excitement will unseal containers of lethal germs__ and that’s it, everybody will suffocate in a paroxysm of tormented death, the whole goddamned air will turn toxic with radioactive substances___ I mean, one should get away from this earth itself , if possible__ “ Immersed in foreboding and dreaded thoughts over the possibility of a frightful future for our abode on earth, we take quiet sips of whisky and munch pakoras and then to change the gloomy atmosphere in the room I say, “ In fact one day Mankind has possibly to do just that __ population explosion, paucity of space and dwindling food-grains, energy shortage, Ozone hole, global warming, all these will melt the ice caps and deluge the earth, if somehow a nuclear war breaks out the atmosphere will be poisoned with radioactivity , some wayward meteor may collide with the earth and crumble it to smithereens __ therefore there seems to be no alternative other than abandoning this risk-prone earth and to go and start a colony on some planet or satellite in outer space___ “ After finishing the whisky we are discussing the issue a little more. A global organisation called ‘Habitat- today & tomorrow” has come into being with its Headquarters in Norway or Finland, they also keep receiving contributions from all over the world , bring out pamphlets, hold seminars, they have their own Radio and TV channels, have their own website, they undertake exhaustive analyses about a safe haven for Mankind , carry out research, draw up plans___ including possibilities of settling down in some planet or satellite in outer space__ but in which planet ? Mars is the only planet in the solar system suitable as a habitat for men__ which satellite? Among the plethora of satellites of various planets may be only one or two or maybe somewhere even beyond the solar system... “ yes, saw something like that in the papers,” Safique is saying, “ They have apparently opened up a centre the other day in India as well__ it seems they are also holding a Seminar in Trivundrum or Lucknow in September next___ “ “Yes, in coming September.” Switching off the lamp by the bedside, I am lying down to sleep. **** **** **** For a few more evenings like this I did some reading in my habitat under the torn mosquito net( I have taken some trouble of collecting a couple of books and magazines), did a little bit of ruminating , took out a little time during the day and prepared a chart, with some numbers indicating habitability of some planets and satellites in the solar system__ distance from the sun, time taken per revolution, how much of heat and light do they receive, how strong are their gravitational fields ( whether gravity can be artificially simulated in case of need), what do their atmospheres contain ( Methane, Ammonia, Carbon... Oxygen, alas, is found in none , but it may be possible to produce it ), chances of water formation, what kind of minerals may be available, etc etc. ___ not exactly a scientific research paper , only a chart of comparative data already available in the public domain , accompanied by a few graphs... I wondered how about sending it over to ‘Habitat-today & tomorrow’ (seminar in September)...At last one night as I was about to sleep after switching off the lamp, I heard her speak from near the door “Are you asleep?” already half-asleep I say, “Hm, why?” “You have fixed up the Auto rickshaw, I hope?” “Yes, it will come at five itself tomorrow morning, he said.” “I see, go back to sleep then, I will wake you up at around four in the morning, I have already fixed the alarm.” “O-K”, I say and go to sleep. The flight is very early tomorrow morning, the airlines office is quite far from here, and there will be no bus that early in the morning, the auto should better come on time __ the airport coach starts at five thirty from the air- terminal, reporting time is at six –there will be a change of plane at Calcutta – then on to Lucknow___ my paper has been accepted for the Seminar___ **** **** **** __ Lucknow__ a city full of heritage, famous for old world courtesy and aristocracy, as also for culture-music-refined taste, ancient palaces and Havelis __but today at first sight it looks just like any other city, streams of busy people, traffic jams, the skyline dominated only by high rise sky-scrapers... got down from the tanga in front of The Hyatt Kanishka, climbed the stairs covered in red carpet laid out between two rows of flowering shrubs kept in gleaming metal tubs, received the salaam in front of the massive glass door from the doorman resplendent in an ochre over shirt and a Rajasthani head gear, who opened the door for me__ at the reception counter I was welcomed by Chidananda Sridharani, the ‘Habitat’ representative who accompanied me in the lift to put me in room no 218 on the third floor __ he is sorry that he can’t give me company , the participants are streaming in down below, will meet me at six in the bar ‘Ambrosia’__ “ Oh, you already had lunch in the plane is it ? That’s good, then you please have a wash and relax for a while, this here is the button for room-service, if you want any tea-coffee etc, they will bring it to serve you right here, __ OK, so long .” After he and the bell-boy took leave, I took out my paper and placed it on the writing table by the window , switched on once the reading lamp standing on it __ I have to read and revise the paper once in the night __ then took a look around the room, and immediately started fidgeting with a sense of disbelief and unease Ð a spacious room with oak panelling , air-conditioned, the walls, doors and windows are in pale white, in the centre of the room a small electric storm-lantern was hanging, under that was a low coffee table with a glass top, four cane chairs of the same colour with velvet cushions, on the wall here and there a number of Victorian style lamps and two tube lights, various switches, a print of an Amrita Sher Gill and one landscape of some foreign location, two waste paper baskets, a wardrobe behind sliding panels above two small drawers with a mirror in front, in one corner stood a coloured TV and a house telephone ( that also in pale white), furnishings were artificial Chippendale in carved walnut , on the western corner there was a single bed and on a round table by its side there was a shaded bed-lamp, everything is quite tidy, tip-top, orderly, not a speck of dust anywhere, not an inch of cob-web ... In this spotless well laid-out room how do I move around splaying my arms and legs as I wish, how can I plop down to sit wherever I want to after chucking my shirt and sandals to go and land, does not matter where ... I entered the bathroom for a wash, its tiled walls were pale green, the taps, the basin, the shower, the bath-tub and various fittings were all gleaming, the floor also was tiled or was a mosaic of marble and glass, could not quite make out which, but its very look was quite smooth, as if the feet will slip on it, I gingerly put my feet down, the smell was not of Nil-Odour like back home, but of something like the mild fragrance of lavender or lilac, it occurred to me as I was washing my face that if I have to use this bathroom of a Cleopatra there is bound to be some mishap ... the monogram H-K was inscribed on the tray and the napkins, the tea came in a small tea pot with biscuits and pastries , the tea was fragrant Darjeeling Lopchu , but sipping from the cup I seemed to feel uneasy again, the cup was of very brittle bone-china similar to Wedgewood porcelain, it came to my mind that on that very moment the pressure of my thick fat fingers is going to break the cup with a TUNG ! as I brought it down on the plate with a THUCK !... Everything , it seems, have to be treated with extreme care, with highly delicate touch and have to be handled with kid gloves___ Anyway, I finished my tea without any damage to the cup and then pondered what to do now, I can meet Sridharani only after six , still one and half hours away __ from the brochure on the table I gathered that there are many more bars besides Ambrosia on different floors of the Hotel__ this very floor has on its left a dining room ‘Mughal-e-Azam’( Mughlai, South Indian) , on the fourth floor it has the Mah Jong Retreat (Billiards,Ping-Pong, and tables for playing Bridge and Whist), a Gym for the exercise-minded and a dance floor, on the sixth floor are the ‘Honey Bite’ cafeteria and the Conference Hall ( where our Seminar will start tomorrow), on the second floor is the Arcadia Dining Room ( Continental, Chinese...) and so much more , I climbed up the stairs to the bar ‘Mandakini’ on the fifth floor, I notice that wherever the floor remained uncovered by carpets there was glossy mosaic, one feels scared to walk over that in a hurry, ‘Mandakini’ was still mostly empty , on the spacious bar only three four men and women were scattered here and there, the stereo was playing a ‘Rolling Stone’ number in low volume, three young bartenders were wiping glasses behind the drinks counter, behind them were rows of bottles of Indian and foreign liquor__ OK, let me sit here with a drink for some hassle free time. Through the window not too far away one can see a minar of a mosque almost at the same height as this floor. Fitted to it and facing this way was a loudspeaker, the strains of azan must be entering this bar too once in a while , the sun was still shining, far below was the blue swimming pool of The Hyatt and quite some distance away was the eco-park with its beautifully landscaped trees and shrubs, a few benches, chairs and tables seen here and there and even beyond that and at a distance where things can still be made out, the Gomati river is flowing by like a tortuous golden ribbon__ “Beer, Sir?” “Oh, no, we will see about beer later on, first a Woodpecker Whisky.” “Woodpecker, Sir? Woodpecker is not in demand these days, Sir __” The Bartender is possibly from Goa, the name written on the name stub on his chest says ‘ I. Fernandez’, his face almost caved in, in his esteem I must have come down by quite a few notches. “What do you mean not in demand? We have been having only Woodpecker for ages, it is nothing worse than all these (I gestured towards the bottles of Scotch whisky, Johnny Walker, Chivas Regal behind him).” “Yes, Sir.” Fernandez said in a little embarrassed voice, “But our Guests want only these, that’s why __” “ Yes, in our place too many people nowadays want these, especially the ones with black-money , and the ones who are the newly rich, without imported labels status after all is very insecure these days__ we are of the old guard and we prefer the old reliable stuff “, Fernandez’s face became darker still , I said ,”You must be from Goa, no ? Don’t people of Goa say that there is no drink in the world to beat good old Pheni? “ Fernandez made an effort to put on a smile and then said, “Alright Sir, I can get you your Woodpecker but it will take a little time__ I would rather, if you go by my suggestion, Sir, if you would just try a little of our this week’s special __” So on Fernandez’s suggestion I went for a ‘Dimitriv-Daikiri’ ( that is, a cocktail of Rum and lime juice ) and a few canapés to go with it __ one sip told me that it wasn’t bad at all, in fact quite good__ it crossed my mind that Johnny Walker and Chivas Regal also are really good, smooth, light, balanced and why talk only of black-moneyed ones , we too have had it once in a while __ and this boy Fernandez too is not a a bad boy at all, I made him unhappy for no reason at all __ but the real reason is something else , it is just my way of letting off steam after the distress and unease that I felt ever since entering this Hotel __ I glanced at my watch, there was still some time to kill, but a little uncertainty gripped me __ should I go and meet Sridharani or not, if I go I will surely be introduced to many more delegates but I was not quite in the frame of mind to take them in my stride, I was also feeling a little tired after the long journey__ after everything is over I have to go through my paper once more in the night, Sridharani has said that there were two more papers on extra-terrestrial habitat from Japan and Poland , my paper was faxed to Gustav Johansson, the Technical Director on the 11th itself, Dr Johansson has already set aside a half-hour slot for a question-answer session after the three papers are presented__ at 9 in the morning after breakfast there will be Registration of delegates, at ten thirty the Inauguration will start__ at eight thirty in the evening there would be an informal get-together and dinner at ‘Arcadia’ with the delegates already here__ I shall have to remain courteous and have to keep conversations going with so many new faces , have to match them in wit and humour __ I was not too sure if I was capable of all that in this restless and uneasy state of mind__ there will certainly be somebody offering a toast of Champagne, I also have to take it out of courtesy, earlier too I had had Champagne on occasions, and had found it totally insipid, don’t know why it is so highly esteemed, I had grimaced on the sly, may be my Assamese tongue have to taste Champagne many more times before it can appreciate the taste of this much-acclaimed sparkling wine from France__ ... Anyway, I passed out the evening somehow, then got into bed, from some floor down below faint strains of dance music is wafting up, switching on the bed lamp I got hold of my paper, on pulling the lamp closer to the bed I saw that the bed sheet was not quite unbroken white, its white surface had fine embroidered patterns in places, roses with large leaves and tiny thorns, they do not get noticed at first glance__ the pillow cases were the colour of fresh snow, bright white__ may be this is what is called ‘white as milk froth’ __I am not used to sleeping on patterns of rose, that means there is no mosquito net ( mosquitoes are not found here) , that means that familiar smell or whatever it is that I get from my familiar mosquito net is missing __ no, I am too tired, I better catch some sleep now , tomorrow morning over a cup of bed-tea I will give the paper a fast once- over...Switching off the light I tried to go to sleep, spent a long time tossing around, might have dozed off after that...suddenly I woke up, I felt as if something is pricking my whole body, it was not mosquitoes__ oh, it was those thorns of rose that were piercing my body all over __ can’t help it__ suddenly it occurred to me how on earth can I spend two more nights here __ and what good is it to present fantasy papers on habitats beyond the earth , after millions of years of evolution we the Mankind have only now learnt to somehow survive on this earth, who knows how many more millions of years will be needed to adjust ourselves to an alien environment away from earth__ after evolving through my sixty years of life I am finding myself incapable of going to sleep in this Hyatt Kanishka bed away from my familiar bed back home, what good will it do presenting papers __ should I rather invent some unforeseen emergency, come up with some urgent excuse and go back home... after fidgeting for some more time I dozed off again, then woke up once more, those piercing pricks have come back__ no, not thorns of rose, they are from mosquitoes alright, I can even hear their shrill buzz on my ears , mosquitoes have somehow got in, on trying to kill them my hands touched the mosquito net, it seems wife’s clothesline clip has somehow come off the hole in the net ... rays of the morning sun have come into the room... thank God!... Later that morning I am snugly sipping tea from my old familiar cup, and remembering only then that I had read about the Lucknow Hotel in an article by someone attending a Seminar there___ my wife is saying,” You were right, the new tea set should be brought out only when there are visitors, yesterday the maid has already broken the handle of one cup__ I have given you your old cup back__ you like your tea in that chunky old cup with its handle gone, may as well have it, at least your soul will be at peace__ but really, your good tastes are all gone, by God__”
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 04:08:54 +0000
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