COME SEE THE BLOOD...CAFE SHILLONG

And you'll ask: why doesn't his poetry/speak of dreams and leaves and the great volcanoes of his native land?
Come and see the blood in the streets/Come and see the blood in the streets – Pablo Neruda.

Some like-minded people here in the state capital having a few unexplained lines in their heart about the world surrounding them are getting together to celebrate a quiet birthday of Neruda here.

The “Pablo Neruda’s Birthday Bash” is not one of those big sponsored events, but self reflection of people in a small café with readings sessions, music and of course food and drinks on July 12.

“We thought about the event for a long time and eventually decided that we would go ahead. We are expecting some 50 odd people during the event,” Lang Kupar War, a lecturer at the North Eastern Hill University and one of the organisers of the event, said.

Poetry and moreover readings sessions are rare in this part of the world. It’s precisely for this reason that many are looking forward to this event being held at the Café Shillong, Laitumkhrah.

Although there are obvious reasons for choosing Neruda’s birthday as a platform for people interested in art, War said, the event would give people to take time off from their busy schedule.

The Chilean poet and Nobel Laureate, Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto who goes by the pen name Pablo Neruda, after Czech poet Jan Neruda, has a huge fan following here like in any part of the world.

With bloodshed never far from thought, Robin Ngangom of NEHU’s English department and a well-known poet from the region once said that people of the northeast can identify readily with some of the poems of Neruda.

Meanwhile, the organisers have also created a Facebook page about the birthday bash with an open invitation with the promise, quoting Neruda: “I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees."