Mountains by Gaganendranath Tagore and Friendship by Srinivas Rayaprol

This week in Daak:

1. Untitled (Mountains) by Gaganendranath Tagore

2. Friendship by Srinivas Rayaprol

3. Add Spring Flowers to Your Chai Routine

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1. Untitled (Mountains) by Gaganendranath Tagore

The haunting mist, the lush, dense flora, and the peeking tops of mountains —this painting is a balm for dreamers and mountain lovers! Is it just us, or is there something melancholic about it too? Perhaps it’s the use of muted colours or the impressionist strokes, through which Tagore plucks our emotions, reminding us of forgotten dreams and memories.

2. Friendship by Srinivas Rayaprol

When old friends meet
out of school 
and have nothing to remember 
but the borrowed copy-book 
and the school gym 
where love hung 
on the handle-bars 
and the time has now come 
to talk of wives unseen 
and children only heard 
and love no longer free 
for distribution: 

When lonely roads are walked 
in each other's company 
muted by the years between 
Remembering now 
what has been long forgotten 
and suddenly called 
into the memory 
by a chance encounter 
at the crossroads 
of a foreign city. 

This simple poem evokes the heartache of faded friendships and makes us wonder — how is that our formative relationships, at one time so essential to our identity and routine, are gradually reduced to a few threads of memory and half-remembered stories? The imagery of walking down lonely roads (for what is adulthood but a long, lonely walk?) revisiting old memories is an especially poignant reminder that time blunts the pain of each lost relationship, turning it to a tenuous memory.

3. Add Spring Flowers to Your Chai Routine

You probably know by now that we’re partial to flowers and so, to mark the arrival of Spring, we’re thrilled to launch the Daak Floral Trays that combine traditional woodwork with delicate illustrations of flowers and vegetation found in the subcontinent. Light up your meals, snacks or teatime with these colourful trays.