NBD Hostel – an incarnation of illumination of Nalini Bala

– Dr. Gayatri Goswami

Amidst the hallowed memory of the mystic poet

Radiating the lives of thousands

like a luminous glow.

An ingrained ray of light

Submerged my very existence and my being

I feel like flying in the high sky…

In every step of my life that interfering agent

comes on its own way

Every inch of my body it pervades unknowingly

But leaves its unwavering spirit

Its Jesmine- fragrance and everlasting light…

That proud, arrogant entity creates a pathway

to a Wonderland of fairy-like days

I bow down desperately

 Welcoming that agent and its spirit

Where I don’t play the game of chess

But risk the effort of a spider to spin a cobweb

It exists in me Like the neutrinos of this cosmic universe

Whether at the moment of grief or joy

Each pulse, Every heart beat

Flow of my blood

Invisible memory of NBD-CG1

Ever lives visibly …

Sunday’s ‘Pakoda’ prepared with Dandi kai’s affection

His toil to crush a heap of soaked red lentils in a grinding stone slab

to make a smooth paste to prepare Pakoda for all of us

Cordial reiteration of thakur’s calling ‘tel tel’ at dining hall

To smash potato and boil-egg mixed with onion and mustard oil…

Ramshing kai’s favourite shout-calling Hostellers for visitors!

Distant space…

But a living tide rooted in my heart

The joys of life, bliss of NBD life

The laughter, the cry –

The moment of disposition with the innocence of teenagers

Innocence over intricacies of life

Begets an enthuse to love life,

Live life with meaning and integrity…

Oh, it was an unparalleled universe!

An eternal fragrance of ‘Cotton’

Exists in the unforgettable streaks of NBD-CG1

Its fragrance still suffuses my soul

My overwhelmed heart still holding

those dead bygone days as rising tide

A Constellation, bright and brighter milky way for me!

Wishing to reclaim my rise

from the ashes of those fabulous days

Scumbling a way of life,

Tumbling, struggling, feeling utter stillness

in an empty nest in the end of the day

But the Warmth of those days

Surrounds me with the Hearth of a haven

Nostalgia of NBD is a heavenly bliss

Creating a Heaven on earth!

(The poet is an Associate Professor, English; Dean, Research & Development i/c, Sibsagar University, Written on the occasion of Platinum Jubilee Celebration of Nalini Bala Devi Girls’ Hostel, Cotton University, 14-15 November 2026)