The Ghat of the Only World, Explanation, Line by Line, Meaning of Difficult Words, English CBSE Class 11 NCERT Snapshot Chapter 6

 The Ghat of the Only World, Explanation, Line by Line, Meaning of Difficult Words, English CBSE Class 11 NCERT Snapshot Chapter 6

THE GHAT OF THE ONLY WORLD 

(Explanation and Meaning of difficult words)

Author – Amitav Ghosh

Word	Meaning
Approaching	Nearing, Coming soon
Conversation	Talk, Discussion
Routine	General

On 25^th April 2001, Agha Shahid Khan had spoken to me that he might die soon. It was for the first time that he had spoken about his death. It was a general discussion.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Apartment	Flat

I had made a call to him to remind that we were to go to friend’s house for lunch. I told him that I would pick him up from his flat.

 

Word	Meaning
Still standing on his feet	Remained fit
Lucid	Sharp, One who can think clearly

He was taking treatment for cancer since last fourteen months. In spite of that Shahid was fit and could think clearly. Though sometimes he used to lose his memory.

 

Word	Meaning
Thumbing through	Turning pages
Engagement book	Daily work diary, Book of appointment

Once while turning pages of his diary of works, he suddenly said that he could not see anything. Then he stopped for some time. Then he said that he hoped he was not about to die.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Talked a great deal	Talked a lot
Touched on the subject of death	Talked about death

Shahid and I had talked a lot during last weeks. But he had not talked about death earlier.

 

Word	Meaning
Completely at odds	Totally opposite
Jocularity	Humour
Light to the point of jocularity	Something said as joke or not seriously
Mumbled	Whispered, Told in low voice
Innocuous	Innocent

I did not know how to give a reply. He had not said it seriously though he was talking about a serious aspect. Innocently I told him in low voice that he will certainly not die. Everything will be OK.

 

Word	Meaning
Cut me short	Started speaking before I had stopped speaking
Quizzical	Puzzling

He started speaking before I had stopped speaking. His voice was full of a puzzle. He had felt some problem. He directly asked me to write something about him after his death.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Bring myself to say	Had the courage to speak

I was shocked and remained silent for a long time. Gradually I had the courage to say something which people say on such occasions. I told Shahid that he will be fine and he needed to be strong.

Word	Meaning
Blackout	To become unconscious

From window of my study room, I could see a corner of the building in which he lived. That building was eight house away from my house. Only a few months ago he had shifted in that building. Earlier he was living in Manhattan which is a few mile away for this place. He had suddenly become sick in February 2000. He had become unconscious.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Revealed	Disclosed
Malignant tumour	Tumour of cancer

Through test it was disclosed that he had cancer tumour in brain. Then he decided to shift to Brooklyn to live with his younger sister. His sister was a teacher at Pratt Institute. It was a few buildings away from the street on which my house was situated.

Word	Meaning
Reassurances	Comforting, Consolation, Solace
Dead serious	Very serious

Shahid neglected my advice of consolation. He started laughing. Then I understood that he was very serious about what he had said.

Word	Meaning
Entrusting	Giving responsibility
Charge	Work
Recitatives	Talks, Dialogues

I understood that he was giving a specific responsibility to me  to do a work. He did not want me to remember him through dialogues between friends or in my memory. He wanted me to write about him so that people remembered him.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Inbuilt	Internal
Resistance	Opposition, Not in favour of
Bereavement	Sorrow, Sadness

Shahid knew it very well that some writers want to write only about reality or factual situations. Such writers do not want to write about loss or sorrow.

Word	Meaning
Instincts	Inner feelings, Natural habits

He was aware that my natural habit would have guided me to give an excuse to not to write about his death. I would have told him that I was not a poet. I would have told him that we became friends only recently. Many other people know about him more that I know. Hence they will be able to write about him in a better manner.

 

 

Shahid had thought about all such probable excuses. He had decided not to accept any excuses I could think of till this time. He again told me that I must write about him.

 

Word	Meaning
Imperative	Order, Compulsion
Acknowledge	Accept

It was clear to me that this order would have to be accepted. But I could not say anything. I could not find words to promise him that I would write about him after his death. Finally I told him that I would make my best effort.

 

 

 

At the end of the discussion I knew exactly what I had to do. I picked up my pen and noted down all the details of discussion I could recall.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Pledge	Promise

I continued to write our discussions for next couple of months. Through this record of discussion I was able to fulfill the promise I had made to him on that day. I was aware about the writing of Shahid even before I had met him.

Word	Meaning
Powerful	Strong
Lyrical	Like a song, Poetic
Fiercely	Greatly
Engaged	Impressive, Involved
Deeply inward	Thinking about self

I was strongly impressed by his book ‘The Country Without a Post Office’. This was published in 1997. I had never heard a voice similar to his. Sometimes his voice was poetic and greatly disciplined. On some occasions his voice was impressive and he appeared to be talking with his innermost feelings.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Mock-casual	Falsely normal, Artificially normal
Contemporary	Of this era, Belonging to present time
Bardic	Person who writes poems of warriors
Bardic register	A poetic style
Conceive	Think

His voice did not look artificially normal similar to somebody reading a poem in the style of reading a prose. He was not ashamed to recite poem in a bardic register style. I could not even think of someone who could write – ‘Mad heart, be brave.’ Shahid was the only person who could speak and write in such fashion.

Word	Meaning
Quoted	Gave reference
Touched briefly	Mentioned briefly, Mentioned few words

In 1998 I gave a short reference from the book ‘The Country Without a Post Office’ in an article written by me. At that time I knew that Shahid was from Srinagar and had studied in Delhi. I did not know anything more about him.

Word	Meaning
Overlapped	Common, Simultaneous
Put me in touch	Introduced me

I had also studied in Delhi. For a short time we both were simultaneously in Delhi. But we never met each other. Some of our friends were common to us. One such friend introduced me to Shahid.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Acquaintances	Known but not friends,

In 1998 and 1999 we had talked many times on phone. We had also met a few times. Though we knew each other, we were not friends. We became friends after he had moved to Brooklyn next year.

Word	Meaning
Impede	Hinder, Prevent, Obstruct

After becoming neighbour we occasionally started having our food together. Soon we found out that we had many things in common. By this time Shahid was seriously ill. But his sickness did not prevent our friendship from growing.

Word	Meaning
Roster	Group, List
Indifference	Unliking

We found that we had several common friends living in America, India and at other places. We found that we both liked to eat rogan josh. We liked to listen to songs of Roshanara Begum and Kishore Kumar. We did not like cricket. We both liked old Hindi movies.

Word	Meaning
Trivial	Very small, Minute
Exchanges	Discussions
Charge	Importance
Inescapable	Unavoidable
Poignance	Sorrow
In this instance	In this case, In this situation

Condition of Shahid was really serious. So even the smallest discussion was important and urgent. The discussion with Shahid about food and people who were almost forgotten should have been avoided because he was dying. This sorrow or pain increased a lot because Shahid was a poet. He had achieved a greatness that only I could realise as friend. Shahid was probably not talking to anybody else.

 

Word	Meaning
Adda	A meeting place
Conviviality	Friendliness, Sociability

A writer Suketu Mehta also used to live in Brooklyn. One afternoon we all had lunch together. We planned to create a meeting place. The meetings will not have any agenda. It will be  a meeting for social gathering and for fun.

Word	Meaning
Enthusiastic	Eager, Keen
Crew	Group
In the least bit	Not at all
Put out	Upset,

Shahid was very keen about these meetings and we started meeting regularly. Other writers used to join us occasionally. Once a team from television with camera reached our meeting place. Shahid was not at all upset. Without any hesitation he accepted that he liked being photographed.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Sorcerer	Astrologer, Wizard
Transmute	Change,
Mundane	Worldly, Pertaining to this world

Shahid was capable of changing the aspects of this world into some form of magic. Once I had gone with his brother Iqbal and her sister Hena to the hospital. We had gone there to bring Shahid from hospital to home.

Word	Meaning
Intended	Planned, meant
Relieve	Reduce

The date was 21^st May. Before this date several operations on him were unsuccessful. We had once again gone to the hospital for one more surgery. This was planned to reduce pressure on his brain.

Word	Meaning
Bare	Naked
Scalp	Head
Sutures	Stitches
Escort	Helper, Person who accompanies

All the hair from his head were removed. The shape of the tumour was now clearly visible on his naked head. We could also see stiches around the tumour. At the time of leaving the hospital ward, a person from hospital came with wheelchair. He was wearing blue uniform.

Word	Meaning
Groggier	Weaker
Buckled	Bent

Shahid signaled the person to go away. He declared that he was quite strong and he would walk out of the hospital without any help. But he was weaker than he had imagined. His knees bent after a few steps. He was about to fall down.

Word	Meaning
Leaning	Taking support
Cheerless	Dull
Rapture	Joy, Happiness
Descended	Came, Arrived

Iqbal ran to bring a wheel chair. We all were standing in the corridor. We were holding Shahid so that he did not fall on the ground. Shahid had taken support of the wall. At that moment a happiness came to Shahid.

Word	Meaning
Orderly	Peon
Beaming smile	A broad smile
Gleefully	Happily
Lorca	A poet of Spain

When peon of the hospital came back with wheel chair, Shahid gave him a broad smile. Shahid asked from he was. He replied that he belonged to the country Ecuador. Shahid happily clapped and loudly said that he wanted to learn Spanish language. He wanted to read works of Lorca.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Gregariousness	Habit of being with people, Sociability

Shahid liked to be among people. He was very social person. Every evening there was a party in his living room. He once told me that he liked very much when people were in his house.

Word	Meaning
Festivity	Celebration, Party
Depressed	Sad, Unhappiness

I like it when people come to my house and I have food for them. I like the feeling of celebrations. This ensures that I do not become sad.

Word	Meaning
Spacious	Big, having lot of space
Split-level	Multi level
Renovated	Reconditioned, Modified
Cavernous	Huge, Very big

His flat was big. It had floors at many levels in it. It was on the seventh floor of a reconditioned building. The top floor had a very big study room. The terrace was very wide. One could see a beautiful view of sky of Manhattan city across both banks of the East River.

Word	Meaning
Waterfront	Area near a waterbody

Shahid liked the view of the Brooklyn city along the water bodies. It looked like a ghat on the East River under the shining lights of Manhattan.

Word	Meaning
Foyer	Entry, Porch
Voyage	Long journey
Fragrance	Smell
Invade	Attack
Dour	Dull, Grimly
Oddly	Different, Special, Weird

Distance from the entrance of his house to the door of the building was very long. Author has equated this to travel between two continents of the world. While going to the building the sweet smell of organ josh and haak dishes would travel upto the dull and grey coloured interiors of the lift. Sound of songs and other voices used to always come from his apartment. The sound of the bell of his apartment was different and sounded musical.

Word	Meaning
Flinging open	Open with a jerk
Heeng	A spice,
Frosty	Very cold, As cold as frost

Suddenly Shahid would open the door of his flat with a jerk. Smell of heeng would come from his house into the cold air of New York. He would clap and welcome me into his house.

Word	Meaning
Invariably	Always, without any variation
Perpetual	Permanent, occurring everyday
Carnival	Gathering

Inside his house, six or more people would always be present. They were students, writers or relatives. In the kitchen someone would be either cooking or making tea. He was slowly dying because of his death. But till the end of his life, there used to be a gathering of people in his house. They laughed, discussed, had food and listened & recited poetry.

Word	Meaning
Distracted	Divert the attention
Loose the track of	To become unaware of

Though there used to be many people in his house, he never diverted his attention from cooking of dinner. From time to time, he would stop his discussion with his guests to give instructions for cooking, It could even be an advise to add curd.

Word	Meaning
Eyesight was falling	Eyesight was getting weak

When his eyesight became week, he used to judge cooking from its fragrance. If the fragrance was good he would exclaim, ‘What a fragrance the food has.’

Word	Meaning
Legendary	Great personality, Expert
Prowess	Abilities

Shahid had a great expertise about cooking. Meaning that he had vast knowledge about cooking. Many times he used to spend several days in planning and preparation of a dinner party.

Word	Meaning
Radically	Completely
Alter	Change
Encounter	meeting
Metrical patterns	A style of poetry

In one of such parties at Arizona, Shahid met a poet James Merrill. After this  meeting Shahid completely changed his style of poetry. Now he adopted the metrical patters and verse form of poetry.

Word	Meaning
Explicitly	Clearly
Prefigured	Guessed
Envoy	Messenger, Delegate, Ambassador

James Merrill had the highest influence on Shahid’s poetry. In one of the poems, Shahid had imagined about his death. In that poem James Merrill was a messenger who talked to him about death. In that poem James conveyed the message that good people always leave this world.

Word	Meaning
Placed great store	Emphasized, Had a firm belief
Authenticity	Correctness,
Exactitude	Accuracy
Had pity	To show sympathy or mercy

Shahid firmly believed in adopting correct methods for cooking and then accurately following these. He did not accept any deviation from traditional recipes. He showed mercy at those people who  did not follow this approach. He had a special attachment to food of his region. He called it ‘Kashmiri food in the Pandit style’.

Word	Meaning
Recurrent	Repeating frequently
Vanished	Disappeared
Extinct	Not existing

I once asked him the reason for his passion about this style of food. He said that he had repeatedly seen the dream that all Pandits had disappeared from Kashmir. They stopped living in Kashmir.

Word	Meaning
Nightmare	Fear
Haunted him	Troubled him

This was a fear to him and it troubled him again and again. Many times he talked about it and even wrote poetry about it. One of his such poetry is indicated below –

Shahid is talking about Pandits of Kashmir. At certain point of time I became unaware about you. That time you needed me. You wanted me to protect you. But I did not support you so you thought I was your enemy. I can very well remember that you used to live with us. But I lost your faith. I am your enemy. I very well remember that you used to live with me.

I have not done anything good for you, so you will not forgive me. I was sad because you were in trouble. But I did not disclose my pain to you. The pain was within me. If we were living together as friends, we could have achieved everything in this world.

Once Shahid told me that he loved Bengali food. I objected and told him that he had never been to Calcutta. Nowadays Calcutta is known as Kolkata.

Shahid replied that he had never been to Kolkata. But he had some friends who used to bring Bengali food. When I ate that food, I understood many things that were not known across the country.

Word	Meaning
Cuisine	Type of cooking food
Make a space	Create a situation

This is why Shahid used to tell that we should be happy with style of cooking and style of clothes and other wonderful things. He stopped for a while and again spoke. He said that here we have created a situation so that we all can be together as we talk about good things.

One of the many good things that he liked was music of Begum Akhtar. He had met this great ghazal singer when we was a boy. A friend had introduced him to her. Her music was a necessary part in his life. He was influenced by her music.

Word	Meaning
Repartee	Talks full of satire, Witty talks, Banter
To board a plane	To get into an aeroplane

Shahid knew many stories about her talks that were full of satire. Shahid himself could talk wittily. Once famous incident had occurred at the airport of Barcelona. A security guard stopped him while he was about to get into an aeroplane.

 

 

The guard was a woman. She asked him what was his profession. Shahid replied that he was a poet. The guard asked him what did he do in Spain. Shahid said he writes poetry.

 

Word	Meaning
Exasperated	Irritated, Frustrated

Whatever be the question, Shahid answered in his poetic style. At last the woman guard got irritated. She asked if he was carrying anything dangerous for other passengers. Shahid touched his chest with his palm and said he was carrying his heart.

Word	Meaning
Wildean moments	Witty incidents

This was his one of the best witty incident. He wrote the poem ‘Barcelona Airport’ on this incident. He remembered such moments. He once told me that he liked when people gave him an opportunity to answer questions.

On 7^th May 2000 I was with him when one such opportunity came. That day Shahid was teaching at the Baruch College at Manhattan during semester of spring season. This was to be his class of the semester. Eventually it turned out be last class of his life.

This class was scheduled for a short duration because he had to go to the hospital after the class. I had heard a lot about fantastic method of teaching of Shahid. But this was the first and the last class I had witnessed his teaching.

Word	Meaning
Evident	Clear
Adored	Liked too much
Not in the least	Not at all
Subdued	Depressed, Dejected, Sad

The moment I entered the class I understood that students liked Shahid too much. They had printed a magazine and it was dedicated to him. Shahid was not at all depressed that it was his last class.

Word	Meaning
Sparkling	Shining
Diva	A famous person
Akhtar	Star
Incarnate	Taking another form
Brimming	Full of

From the start to the end of the class he looked like a famous person, a shining star who was full of laughter and ‘nakhra’. An Indian student arrived late in the class. He said that a person from my subcontinent has arrived.

Word	Meaning
Clasping	Joining
Feigned	Pretended
Swoon	Affection, Admiration
Behold	See, Observe, View

He joined his hands and pretended to show affection to her. He said that he had the feeling of patriotism whenever he saw a person from South Asia.

Word	Meaning
Unmitigated	Uncontrolled, Abundance
Vibrant	Lively, Energetic

He recalls that his stay at Penn State was full of happiness. There he grew as a reader, poet and a lover. there he liked company of many energetic students . Many students were from India. Shahid used to often say that it was the happiest time of his life.

After sometime Shahid shifted to Arizona. He wanted to take a degree in creative writing. He did job in various colleges and universities. Finally he was appointed a professor in University of Utah in Salt lake in 1999.

He had taken a leave for some time from Utah University to do job at New York University. During this period he had the first attack of unconsciousness in February 2000.

 

 

In 1975, Shahid had shifted to Pennsylvania. Since then he lived in America most of the time. His brother had already shifted to America and later his two sisters also came there.

 

But parents of Shahid lived in Srinagar. It was his routine to go to Srinagar during summer month of every year. He used to say that he used to always think about poor countries.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Intermittent	Irregular
Mounting violence	Increasing violence
Seized	Gripped, Affected

Since he used to go to Srinagar, he was an irregular but a direct witness of the increasing violence in that region. The violence had increased after 1980.

In 1989 signs of change started becoming very clear. Kashmir would soon be practically burning.

Word	Meaning
Steady	Regular
Deterioration	Decline, Worsening

The political situation in Kashmir continuously worsened. The violence and measure to control violence both increased. These had a great effect on Shahid. After some time the situation of Kashmir became the main theme of his poetry. In fact he wrote his best poems about Kashmir.

Word	Meaning
Irony	Contrast, Paradox

But Shahid did not have any desire to become a poet who wrote about politics. Once he said that if anyone was from a place full of difficulties and that was the only topic to write then one should stop writing. One must respect art and culture of one’s own country. These are also as important as writing about that place.

Word	Meaning
Anguished	Unhappy, Agonised,
Destiny	Fate
Resolutely	With firm determination
Embrace	Accept, Take up

Shahid was unhappy about the likely future situation of Kashmir. Shahid firmly refused to accept the role of a victim of situation of Kashmir though he could have easily done that. If had accepted such role, he could have been a regular person on talk shows and news channels.

 

 

Word	Meaning
His calling	His choice

But Shahid was sure about his choice. He was a poet and he wanted to remain a poet. This field of language is strongly competitive and does not forgive any mistake. He had respect towards his religion. But he believed that religion and politics should be considered separately.

Word	Meaning
Gaze	Opinion, Thought
Inclusive	Comprehensive, Overall
Ecumenical	Involving all religion
Credited	Assigned, Attributed
Upbringing	Education during childhood by parents

Thoughts of Shahid were not political. Thus they could not be included in a policy nor could be a solution. In a wider perspectives, his thinking was to have an overall view and included all religions. He attributed such thoughts to the teachings and education he had received from his parents during his childhood.

Word	Meaning
Seized	Gripped, Affected

Many times he narrated that during his childhood he wanted to construct a small Hindu temple in his room in Srinagar. Initially he hesitated to tell his parents. But when he told his parents about it, they also agreed for it. Their enthusiasm was equal to that of Shahid’s.

Word	Meaning
Accouterments	Other things needed for an activity
Assiduous	Taking great care, Careful, Diligent
Fanaticism	Passion, extremism

His mother brought idols and other things required for a temple. For some time he was very careful in doing puja at his temple. This was his favourite story. Whenever people talked about extremism of Muslims, Shahid used to narrate this story. He used to tell that his mother had helped him in making a temple in his room.

Word	Meaning
Shot back	Replied quickly
Nationalist	Person favouring his own nation or region

I once told Shahid that he could become national poet of Kashmir. He replied that he wanted to be a national poet (poet of India) but he did not want to be poet of a part of Kashmir. In the main poem of his book ‘The Country Without a Post Office’ he has described a person who comes back to Kashmir. He becomes caretaker of a broken minaret.

He had further narrated that nothing will survive, everything will be destroyed. These are the pious words. You will read what I am writing and I will read what you are writing. Oh my son, please come and open the envelops that contain our letters. This is an old poem of Shahid. I have read remaining part of this poem. Expressions in this poem are very nicely narrated.

Word	Meaning
Figuring	Understanding
Inextricably	Inseparably
Linked	Attached
Prefigured	Be an early indication of something

In this understanding of his homeland, he himself became a representative of the situation prevailing in Kashimr – a witness as well as a martyr. His destiny is linked with Kashmir as a witness and as a martyr. One does not know which role came first.

 

 

The ‘Safron Sun’ and the ‘Times of Rain’ are two poems written by Shahid. In one of the poems he had expressed his desire to die in Kashmir.

Word	Meaning
Therapy	Treatment
Put off	Deferred, Postponed, Stopped

I had recorded a telephonic discussion of 5^th May in my notes. The previous day, on 4^th May, he had gone to the hospital for getting a scan done. This report was expected to disclose the effectiveness of chemotherapy. Every other treatment had been stopped till receipt of this report.

The scan was to start at 2:30 in the afternoon. I called his number many times in the late afternoon. I called him in the evening also. But he did not pick up the phone. I called him in the morning of next day. This time he answered my call.

Word	Meaning
Preambles	Introduction, Preliminary

We did not have any preliminary talk. He directly informed about the scan. He said that the news was not good. They will stop all medicines including chemotherapy. They think I will die within one year.

Word	Meaning
Suspect	Guess, Doubt
Dazed	Surprised, Unable to think

They have a doubt that medicines are not having desired effect on my body. After sometime they will give me radiation. But they do not hope that it will cause major improvement. I was not able to think anything. I just kept looking at my table. I asked Shahid what he will do now.

Word	Meaning
Will	Legal document about one’s property
Leave a mess	Become trouble
Siblings	Brothers and sisters

Shahid said that he wanted to go to Kashmir. He wanted to die there. He did not appear to be disturbed. I want to write my will and do other similar works. I do not want that my brothers or sisters should have any trouble after my death. After completing these works I want to go to Kashmir.

Word	Meaning
Feudal system	A system in which family is given priority

Shahid said that even now people in Kashmir respect family bonding so lot of support is available. And his father also lived there. He did not want his brothers and sisters to travel to USA on his death. He had to travel to India when his mother had died.

Word	Meaning
Logistics	Detailed arrangement about an event or travel
Content	Satisfied
Laid to rest	Cremated
Vicinity	Close to, Near to

Afterwards he changed his plan of going to Kashmir because a detailed plan could not be worked out. There could have been other reasons also. He was satisfied to be cremated in Northampton. It is a town close to Amherst. He considered Amherst a sacred town because another poet Emily Dickinson had lived there. Shahid admired her poetry too much.

Word	Meaning
Accident	Chance
Overlaid	Associated
Inseparable	That cannot be separated

I do not think it was a matter of chance that Shahid started thinking about Kashmir when he was about to die. In one of his poems ‘death, Kashmir and Shahid’  always appeared together. It was just like an old photograph dissolved in rain. it was not possible to separate these three.

Following is a part of his poem –

Shahid through above poem has picturized his death. His death will mean setting of sun. from this world he will be shifted to a grave that is about two yard long. People will be talking about my death. But I will remember the famous lines about Kashmir – If there is a paradise on earth it is in Kashmir .

 

Word	Meaning
Intermittently	Not continuously
Converse	Talk

I met Shahid for the last time on 27^th October. We met at the house of his brother in Amherst. He was not able to talk continuously. Most of the time we repeated the discussion we had already had in the past.

Word	Meaning
Trace	Sign
Anguish	Agony, Pain

Since a long time he knew that his death would be coming soon. He had understood this fact. There was no sign of pain or discord in him. His family and friends were with him. He looked calm, satisfied and peaceful person.

Word	Meaning
Consolation	Satisfaction

He liked to think that after his death he would be meeting his mother, somewhere in the other world. I realised that  during his last days of his life, he was quite satisfied. On 8^th December at 2 AM he peacefully died in his sleep.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Amazed	Surprised
Vast	Huge
Void	Gap, Emptiness

Now he is no more with us. It is a matter of surprise that such a short friendship has created such a big emptiness within me. Many times I recall his presence in my living room. I particularly remember the night when he had read a poem about his departure from this world.

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