Jesus of kolkata

There  was no red signal
Of prohibition
still stopped sudden
The city which so far had the speed
of storm;
Precariously held on to the road
Balancing perilous on wheels
Taxi and private,tempo, tiger embossed double deckers;

All those who raised hue and cry
And came from all sides
Labourers, hawkers, shopkeepers,customers-
They all became part of a still picture
Done by the artist, stuck to his easel;

Everyone dumbfounded
Saw how a naked child crossed the road
From one end to another;

It had rained a few hours ago
At the chowringhee;

Now the light had pierced through
the clouds
Kolkata seemed to be flooded by illusory light;

Peering out of the window of state bus
Saw the face of the sky and saw you too;

Son of a mother
Beggarly
You the Jesus of Kolkata

Stopped the traffic by your spell;

The screaming millions,
The teething and gnawing of impatient drivers
Did not deter you;

You walk through
The passage
with death on both sides,
Like someone learning to walk,

Like humanity incarnate
too glad to learn to walk
Trying to get the whole world
Within your grasp;
Like by treading trembling
you were walking from one end to another
Of the world.

(Transliteration of a poem by Nirendranath Chakraborty)

(The photo attached is taken from a daily, depicting a scene from the street of Kolkata)