The Dreamheron Diaries - স্বপ্নসারসের দিনলিপি

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

KANYALIFEKA - A PLACE OF FIRE

If I would design a village, I would drape it gently over a small green hill. The village would not be visible from a distance, only the treetops. Naturally, there would be two neighborhoods – the Sunup Slope and the Sundown Slope. At dawn the Sunup Slope would catch the sun’s crimson and dazzle, as though the hill were on fire. In the evening the Sundown Slope would shimmer in the red glow, as though the hill were on fire. In time the people in the two neighborhoods would develop different temperaments. If you visit, the Sunup types would greet you with effusive cheerfulness. The Sundown types would greet you in quiet joy. The night of the Full Moon, there would be community picnic in the hilltop park. From a distance, the hill would appear capped by a fiery glow – a soft one. Along the ridge a young lad from one slope would walk with a young girl from another slope – arms locked. They would talk of a future life together in the big bustling city. Whoever is from whichever slope, the joint dream is always the same. (Or is it?) And when they look in each other’s eyes, there is a tiny bit of flame there. Whoever is from whichever slope, it is always the same flame. (Or is it?)

Borrowing an African word I have read about, I would call this village Kanyalifeka – a place of fire.