जैसे याद आ जाता है

The poem evokes a serene yet melancholic atmosphere of existential longing, centered on the ethereal, flickering memory of faces and names that slip just beyond the reach of consciousness. A visual rendering would feature a vast, sun-drenched courtyard bathed in the quiet, golden light of gratitude, where the empty space between the domestic threshold and a distant, silent temple symbolizes the void where identity dissolves. The scene is marked by a tactile sense of absence, represented by the sharp, intangible edges of gain and loss that prick at the observer’s back and mind like phantom thorns. This shanta (peaceful) composition suggests a meditative detachment, where the beauty of existence is perpetually haunted by the inability to grasp the specific forms of the past, leaving only the tranquil, desolate expanse of memory.

जैसे याद आ जाता है (Jaise Yaad Aa Jata Hai), by Bhawani Prasad Mishra runs to 21 lines across 5 stanzas, set as Three short free verse stanzas. Its governing rasa is Shanta, shaded by Karuna. The metre is free verse. Rhyme falls as none.

Read it for स्मृति और विस्मृति का द्वंद्व and अस्तित्व का सूनापन और कृतज्ञता. 2 words in it carry older or regional senses, so the poem rewards a second pass.

The verse is hung beside Sacred Tank and Pagodas, near Benares: Bathed in a serene and contemplative atmosphere, the hand-colored aquatint depicts a tranquil Hindu temple complex where pilgrims rest and bathe along the stone steps of a sacred water tank. Dominating the landscape is…