Angshuman Kar has translated some of his shorter Bengali poems to English
RULE
A river wants
pebbles on its bosom.
Only then the water will get a jolt,
the current will be visible.
The wind wants
a few trees to stand against it.
Only then it will whiz,
the speed will become visible.
A word also wants a few antonyms
in opposition.
Only then can it sparkle like a jewel!
Nature wants opposition
A boss slavery…
GROUP PHOTO
Father is gone. Uncle is gone.
Grandma is gone. Tikla is gone.
I am still here. Tukai is here.
Looking at a forty-year-old group photo,
it becomes clear that people take pictures together
only to realise, someday,
that in a cruel world made of black stone,
they are alone.
UMBRELLA
A broken rib.
The plastic handle is partly cracked.
It holds back the drizzle,
but when the rain pours hard,
it gives up.
From head to toe, I get drenched.
And so, the monsoon comes, the monsoon goes.
Looking at the umbrella, sometimes
it seems,
it is my father from the distant past.
Always hesitant.
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE
One can immediately identify the other
the moment the two meet.
One understands the other.
Understands the pain, the suffering, their causes–
everything.
The two drink coffee together.
Gossip. Quarrel.
Together they watch the young couples
pass by.
Boarding the same bus, then,
they go back home together.
One solitary man, still,
can never become the friend of
another.
LOVE
The wind is blowing gently
and the leaves of a tree
are shivering.
It seems
a deaf and dumb boy
has fallen in love
with a girl, deaf and dumb.
THE WIND
Those who think you are a friend
are fools.
You just touch and pass–
A foreigner in every land.
Angshuman Kar, a Bengali poet and novelist, is Professor of English at University of Burdwan, West Bengal. He was also the Secretary of Sahitya Akademi, Eastern Region. Kar is the recipient of several prestigious awards including Paschim Banga Bangla Akademi Puraskar, Krittibas Award, Bangiya Sahitya Parishad Puroskar and Shakti Chattopadhyay Samman. He has read his poems in Scotland, Germany, America and Bangladesh. Wound Is the Shelter is a collection of his poems translated to English.
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