Jibonananda Das – Page 4

Motorcar by Jibonananda Das

Motorcar A motorcar Fills the mind with misgivings. A motorcar is always a thing of darkness, Though its name is the first Among the children of light In the bright streets of daylight And glowing gas lamps at night. It's a creature of the dark: In clear dawn light While walking past green corn fields I look at a motorcar in amazement And see a 1934 model -- Glimmering, causing a dust storm, Rushing on a red brick-built road Going underneath two hijal trees; Streets, fields and dew disappear. The morning light suddenly vanishes, Like a shy bride Faced with a contrary view, The field and river, as if, lifeless, Suddenly lose poise. This motorcar is a trailblazer, It's rushing in the direction Where everyone is supposed to be going; The course of a motorcar Fills the mind with misgivings, Just like darkness. In the stands Beside footpaths On the East and West sides of the city's main field Are motorcars; Soundless. Heads covered, Seats decorated and cavernous Steering wheels and headlights polished; Why are they so still? A tree of a Kolkata park is still as well But for other reasons; I too am still but for another reason; The stillness of a motor is for some dark reason It is a dark thing: In night's darkness, thousands of cars Dash past Paris-New York-London-Berlin Vienna-Kolkata On this and that shore of the sea Like myriads of wires, Like meteors of night, Like endless enigmas And with the endless resolve of men and women They also run But where they head to I don't know. The destination of a motorcar – a motorcar itself Has always been a mystery to me, It seems to move towards some darkness. I don't want to go anywhere so fast; I have the leisure to walk to wherever I want, The leisure to wait and lounge for a long time after reaching my destination. Let other people be excited About all kinds of amazing feats – I don't feel the need for them! I am a hopelessly outdated man In this new century Underneath the stars!

Songs of Seasons by Fakrul Alam

Rabindranth Tagore’s Art. Courtesy: Creative Commons

Tagore wrote on almost all aspects of life. Here are Fakrul Alam’s translations of Tagore’s songs for Ashar, the third month in the Bengali Calendar around the months of June-July. It is the time the monsoons start to set in. The sky, the flora and the fauna are resplendent and fecund with the much-awaited showers. Alam, a renowned scholar and translator from Bangladesh, was kind enough to share these six songs of the season which will soon be a part of his forthcoming publication on translation from the Gitabitan, Tagore’s treasury of more than 2000 songs.

Garland of Lightening Gems
(Bajromanik Diye Gantha, written in 1925)
 
Ashar, how delicate is your garland of jewelled thunderbolts!
Your dark beauty is set off by lightning flashes
Your spells have the power to melt stones and sprout crops--
On your winged feet you bring from sandy wastes flower garlands
On withered leaves you come in torrential and triumphant showers
Your clouds resound like tom-toms in festive abandon
In your deluge of delicious green, parched earth revives
But keep your awful, life-threatening floods away!
 
In the Thunderous Clouds
(Oi Je Jhorer Meghe, written in 1922) 
 
There--in the lap of storm clouds--the rain comes
Its hair loosened, its sari’s borders flying!
Its song beats flutter mango, blackberry, sal and rain-trees
Making their leaves dance and murmur in excitement 
My eyes, moving in beat to its music
Wander in falling rain, losing themselves amidst sylvan shades
Whose familiar voice calls out to me in the wet wind endlessly
Stirring a storm of anguish in my soul on this lonely day?
 
The Tune of New Clouds
(Aaj Nobeen Megher Shoor Legeche, written in 1922)
 
Newly arrived clouds stir a tune in my mind today
And my thoughts become all aflutter causelessly
How these clouds lure me outdoors again and again,
Casting their shade on my eyes every now and then 
In the rain pouring from the sky tumultuously
What message of the path to pursue do they bear?
That path will take my mind’s tune into the unknown
And disperse it in the bower of one forever forlorn!
 
The Sky’s Musings
(Aaj Akashe Moner Kotha, written in 1922)
 
This day I hear the sky’s musings in thundershowers 
They’ve reverberated in my heart all day long.
On the dark lake water, clouds thicken
            The wind, bearing the pain of centuries,
                        Has murmured in my heart all day long
                                  By my window and in darkness
I commune with the sky, all alone 
Like rustling branches, hidden memories stir
                 Evoking a tear-soaked tune in my soul
  As crickets chirp on—all day long! 
  
Under the Kadmaba Trees
(Esho Nipo Bone,written in 1925)
 
Come and walk in the shade of the Kadamba tree rows
Come bathe in rain water streaming down incessantly
Let down your disheveled thick jet-black tresses
Drape around your bodies your sky-blue saris
With kohl-lined eyes and jasmine garlands
Come and walk in the shade of Kadamba tree rows!
Every now and then, my dear, dear soul mates,
Let smiles light up your lips and eyes wondrously
To the beat of pouring rain, let Raga Mallar tuned songs,
Sung in your sweet voices, sound in forests sonorously
Come and walk in the shade of Kadamba tree rows!
 
Tear-filled Sorrow
(Ashrubhara Bedona, written in 1925)
 
Tear-filled emotions stir everywhere!
Whose desire sounds in dark in the clouds this day?
They speed across tempestuously,
Whose lament echoes in the rumbling?
Who could be focused on such fruitless worship?

Fakrul Alam is an academic, translator and writer from Bangladesh. He has translated works of Jibonananda Das and Rabindranath Tagore into English and is the recipient of Bangla Academy Literary Award (2012) for translation and SAARC Literary Award (2012).

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