Basu called me up today to say that the little brass lakshmi idol that was there in the alcove behind the circular seat in the middle of Awnek Aakash cottage has disappeared!! (you can't see it in the picture because it wasn't there when the picture was taken.)
Lal, Akash and Basu have searched for it high and low - mostly low, on all fours, but to no avail. Goddess lakshmi had truly and decidedly gone. For the uninitiated, she is the giver of wealth and prosperity! With Awnek and Aaro Aakash struggling to make ends meet, one lakshmi more or less wouldn't make much of a difference...but it was an intricate piece of craftsmanship and that is where it hurts. Whoever has taken it has an eye for such things. Sigh! One good dokra less from our collection. But I had no idea that we were renting out our nice little cottages to kleptomaniacs!
We feel very let down. We do not expect such behaviour from people who we trust enough to allow the use of our private cottage.
This is precisely the kind of incident that deals body blows to one's confidence in the so-called inherent goodness that is supposed to be there in all god's children. We had been advised by well meaning people to remove the artefacts that are there in Awnek Aakash and Dokka. But that would take something away from the experience that is Awnek Aakash or Aaro Aakash, wouldn't it? That would turn it into just another 'resort' or hotel.
Lal, Akash and Basu have searched for it high and low - mostly low, on all fours, but to no avail. Goddess lakshmi had truly and decidedly gone. For the uninitiated, she is the giver of wealth and prosperity! With Awnek and Aaro Aakash struggling to make ends meet, one lakshmi more or less wouldn't make much of a difference...but it was an intricate piece of craftsmanship and that is where it hurts. Whoever has taken it has an eye for such things. Sigh! One good dokra less from our collection. But I had no idea that we were renting out our nice little cottages to kleptomaniacs!
We feel very let down. We do not expect such behaviour from people who we trust enough to allow the use of our private cottage.
This is precisely the kind of incident that deals body blows to one's confidence in the so-called inherent goodness that is supposed to be there in all god's children. We had been advised by well meaning people to remove the artefacts that are there in Awnek Aakash and Dokka. But that would take something away from the experience that is Awnek Aakash or Aaro Aakash, wouldn't it? That would turn it into just another 'resort' or hotel.
Let me sign off by quoting a couple of lines from Yeats.
"I have spread my dreams beneath your feet
Tread softly for you tread on my dreams."
Uday Hajra
Uday Hajra
heart rending lines of poetry........
ReplyDeleteswati