Okale or Out of Sync by Rabindranath

‘Okale‘ (translates as ‘out of sync with time’) is a part of Tagore’s poetry collection, Khanika (translates to ‘moments’) published in 1900.

OUT OF SYNC

Who is it that runs burdened with 
           Merchandise to the closed haat*? 
Dusk has set in. 
             The day is past. 

Carrying burdens on their heads, 
Vendors return to their homestead. 
A fragment of the new moon
                     Has risen in the vale. 
Those from the other shore, 
Call out loudly to the boats.
The riverside reverberates with
                       Their echoes evermore. 

With what hope have you come 
              At this hour
To the closed haat, breathlessly, 
              With your load? 

Sleep has caressed 
              The woods to bed, 
The cawing of crows have halted
              In their nests. 

In the shrubs near the pond,
By the fence, crickets call. 
Stunned branches of bamboo,
          Sway softly in the breeze —
Within the courtyard of their homes, 
The weary sleep in their abodes. 
The night-lamp brightens
          The flickers of shades. 

When all are at rest, 
        As the time to work is past, 
Who is it that runs burdened with 
           Merchandise to the closed haat? 




*Rural Bazaar

This poem has been translated by Mitali Chakravarty with editorial input by Sohana Manzoor 

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