এখানে আসার পর থেকে ভোর হতে খুব কম-ই দেখেছি। ঘুমোতে যাওয়ার সময় ক্রমঃশঃ গভীর থেকে গভীরতর রাতের দিকে সরতে থাকে আর সেই সঙ্গে পিছোতে থাকে ঘুম ভাঙার সময়। এইভাবে পিছোতে পিছোতে যখন ঘুমোতে যাওয়ার সময় ৬:৩০ পার করল, আমি এখানে ভোর হওয়া দেখলাম।
নেশাতুর রাত আড়ামোড়া ভেঙে জেগে উঠল। প্রত্যেক জায়গার ভোরের নিজস্ব একটা গন্ধ থাকে, সেই গন্ধ নাকে এল। মনে পড়ে গেল, দেশগাঁয়ে যখন বেড়াতে যেতুম, তখন ঘুম ভাঙার পর কতকটা এমনই গন্ধ নাকে আসত। মশারি ফাঁক করে, পা-টা নামিয়ে হাওয়াই চটি খুঁজতাম আর ক্রমশঃ স্পষ্ট হয়ে জেগে ওঠা লোকজনদের কলতান।
আমাদের হস্টেল-এর ছাদে এসে দাঁড়ালে এমনিতেই মনটা ভালো হয়ে যায়। একদিকে সারি সারি ধোঁয়া ঘেরা পাহাড়; অন্যদিকে বিশাল একটা লেক। লেকের অন্যপাড়ে সদাজাগ্রত শহরের রাস্তায় গাড়ীগুলো বিন্দুর মত সরে সরে যায়। তার-ও পেছনে দেখা যায় বিমানের ওঠানামা। সামনের দিকে আছে লেক এর চড়া আর তার-ও পেছনে জনপদ। ঝাঁ-চকচকে শহরের সাথে তার পার্থক্য চোখে পড়ার মত। সেই পার্থক্য কেন জানি না, বারবার আমার পাড়াগাঁ-এর কথা মনে পড়িয়ে দেয়।
পাখির আনাগোনা শুরু হয় আস্তে আস্তে। হস্টেলের ঘুলঘুলি থেকে পায়রাগুলো বেরিয়ে পড়ে। কোকিল আর কাক ডাকতে শুরু করে এক-ই সাথে। মাটিতে শালিখ চরে বেড়ায়। টিভির তারে বসে ফিঙে লেজ দোলায়। দোয়েলরা গল্প করে। দূরে লেকের চরে বসে থাকা বকগুলিকে মনে হয় ছড়িয়ে থাকা সাদা পালক। লেকের উলটোদিকে আছে একটি পাঁচতারা হোটেল।তার সবকটা ঘরেই নীল পর্দা। সেগুলি একইরকম থাকে। কতকগুলি গরু চরতে আসে লেকের চরে। বকগুলি ঘিরে ধরে তাদের। কুকুরগুলো খামোখা মস্করা করে গরুগুলিকে তাড়িয়ে বেড়ায়।সামনে আমার প্রিয় জনপদে শুরু হয় মানুষের আনাগোনা।
ক্রমশঃ রোদ বাড়ে, আমি ফিরে এসে ঘুমোতে যাই।
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Retrograde and Anterograde Amnesia
Retrograde and Anterograde Amnesia happened to me at the same time when I (supposedly) fell down from my bicycle last Sunday. The names sound really fearsome but for me the period involved is really small (5-6 seconds of Retrograde and ~30 minutes of Anterograde).
In retrograde amnesia, the subject (that's me) is unable to recall events that occurred before the development of amnesia. The reason in my case was a mild head injury and shock. And I forgot the event of falling down altogether. According to Ribot's Law, there is a time-gradient in retrograde amnesia. Recent memories are more likely to be lost than the more remote memories. So, I lost the last 5-6 seconds before the head injure completely although I was able to remember the events before that gradually within a short time. For the first few hours it seemed that the time (2-3 hours) was a dream. But as people informed me the events that happened in that period, I gradually recollected some of the events (except for the 5 seconds period).
In anterograde amnesia, the subject loses the ability to create memory. There are two types of memory in human brain. One is short-term memory which is used for immediate processing and one is long-term memory which is used as a permanent storage for later retrieval. In anterograde amnesia, the process of writing from short term memory to long term memory is affected. I don't remember what happened during the 30 minute period after the injury. People said, I handed over my bi-cycle to Omair, came back to my room walking, asked my friend for Dettol, called my girlfriend once, took the bicycle keys back from Omair etc. But I don't remember these things at all. In most cases (including mine) subjects loss declarative memory (recollection of facts) and not procedural memory (how to do things).
References
In retrograde amnesia, the subject (that's me) is unable to recall events that occurred before the development of amnesia. The reason in my case was a mild head injury and shock. And I forgot the event of falling down altogether. According to Ribot's Law, there is a time-gradient in retrograde amnesia. Recent memories are more likely to be lost than the more remote memories. So, I lost the last 5-6 seconds before the head injure completely although I was able to remember the events before that gradually within a short time. For the first few hours it seemed that the time (2-3 hours) was a dream. But as people informed me the events that happened in that period, I gradually recollected some of the events (except for the 5 seconds period).
In anterograde amnesia, the subject loses the ability to create memory. There are two types of memory in human brain. One is short-term memory which is used for immediate processing and one is long-term memory which is used as a permanent storage for later retrieval. In anterograde amnesia, the process of writing from short term memory to long term memory is affected. I don't remember what happened during the 30 minute period after the injury. People said, I handed over my bi-cycle to Omair, came back to my room walking, asked my friend for Dettol, called my girlfriend once, took the bicycle keys back from Omair etc. But I don't remember these things at all. In most cases (including mine) subjects loss declarative memory (recollection of facts) and not procedural memory (how to do things).
References
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrograde_amnesia
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribot%27s_Law
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anterograde_amnesia
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Sealdah Episode
Sealdah
Do you still remember that guy standing in the entrance of Sealdah-north and weeping? Yeah, he was one of the boys who among the rare breed of men who cry. To make the matter worse he cried before his girlfriend. He was not weak (nobody admits himself weak). The thing was that his girlfriend was only person before whom who could cry, speak his heart out, and talk freely. He rarely shared anything with people. His girlfriend was the only person before whom he could be free.
He was tense. He was going to give one of the most important exams of his life in two days. It’s the exam for which he abandoned everything else. It’s the exam for which he sacrificed everything. He doomed in the other areas any way… or the IT scenario during recession was like that, everybody was dooming. Doing something in that exam was his only chance. Every other hope was already gone.
He didn’t know then that the exam would change his life so much and will take him thousands of kilometers away from where he used to be, from where he used to meet her, from the very Sealdah station where they said good bye to each other. It was most of the times the boy first said that they should leave. The boy was like this only. Always confused and prioritizing stuffs and never putting importance on what he actually wanted to do. The girl became sad and then became used to it.
That day the boy was not leaving. He was weeping and weeping. He was venting his heart out… he could not take the pressure any more. He needed to do something decisive in those three hours of exam. The girl was consoling and trying to make him understand like a mother talks with her child. Slowly the boy got back power. The exam was not that bad. He was prepared enough to face it. He prepared the best way he could and that was the best he could do. The girl could not give him a hug as they were standing in one of the busiest station in the world. But her eyes told everything. It talked about how deeply she loved the boy and how surely she believed in the love of the boy for her.
Do you still remember that guy standing in the entrance of Sealdah-north and weeping? Yeah, he was one of the boys who among the rare breed of men who cry. To make the matter worse he cried before his girlfriend. He was not weak (nobody admits himself weak). The thing was that his girlfriend was only person before whom who could cry, speak his heart out, and talk freely. He rarely shared anything with people. His girlfriend was the only person before whom he could be free.
He was tense. He was going to give one of the most important exams of his life in two days. It’s the exam for which he abandoned everything else. It’s the exam for which he sacrificed everything. He doomed in the other areas any way… or the IT scenario during recession was like that, everybody was dooming. Doing something in that exam was his only chance. Every other hope was already gone.
He didn’t know then that the exam would change his life so much and will take him thousands of kilometers away from where he used to be, from where he used to meet her, from the very Sealdah station where they said good bye to each other. It was most of the times the boy first said that they should leave. The boy was like this only. Always confused and prioritizing stuffs and never putting importance on what he actually wanted to do. The girl became sad and then became used to it.
That day the boy was not leaving. He was weeping and weeping. He was venting his heart out… he could not take the pressure any more. He needed to do something decisive in those three hours of exam. The girl was consoling and trying to make him understand like a mother talks with her child. Slowly the boy got back power. The exam was not that bad. He was prepared enough to face it. He prepared the best way he could and that was the best he could do. The girl could not give him a hug as they were standing in one of the busiest station in the world. But her eyes told everything. It talked about how deeply she loved the boy and how surely she believed in the love of the boy for her.
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