Poetry by Sangita Swechcha, translated by Jayant Sharma
Over the rim of the eyes welled weary the tears, asking the eyes— “Should I trickle or not?” The poor couple turn oculus in utter surprise, respond in a staggering and gruelling shape— “How do you yearn to roll down?” The tears sob at the oddity of the question and reply in a state of being offended and distressed— “If you’re embarrassed to show up in open, I shall glide my way inside. If you are in solitude otherwise, I shall spill out in a surge.” How wise the tears are—full of empathy! To save the eyes from being abashed they are ready to repress their outburst. And to loosen up the eyes they are all set to gush out from creeks across the cheeks. The eyes, meanwhile, are silent; their heart already hard as stone. And so retort— “I get fused easily even after countless fragmentation only to be never fragmented again.” Thus is the difference— between the eyes and the tears. The eyes are fixed But the tears get dismembered many times only to be shattered again. Hence— The tears that once dropped off inadvertently in despair have started asking for permission nowadays before making their way out. And the eyes that were inept in giving consent before have started giving permission these days. Thus is this alchemy between the eyes and the tears— The tears ask— “Should I trickle or not?” And the eyes respond— “How do you yearn to roll down?”
Dr. Sangita Swechcha has been an ardent lover of literature from an early age. She has published a novel ‘Pakhalieko Siudo’ (Washed Vermillion) and co-authored a collection of short stories ‘Asahamati ka Pailaharu’ (Hoofmark of Discord) before the collection ‘Gulafsanga ko Prem’ (The Rose: An Unusual Love Story). Her second novel is under publication and her short story collection is being translated into English. She has many short stories and poems published in various journals and online portals including Radio Nepal, Nepal Television, Global Literature in Library Initiative (GLLI) – USA based site and Your2Read, a London based venture dedicated to short story genre. Email: sangyshrestha@hotmail.com , Website: www.sangitaswechcha.com.
Jayant Sharma is the publisher and editor of an English literary magazine Sathi which promotes Nepali literature through English translations and the founder of translateNEPAL which is an initiative to represent Nepal to the global literary scene. As a writer and translator, Jayant also contributes to major national dailies and South-Asian journals regarding arts, literature, and culture.
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