By Isha Sharma
The year is 1905
The tunes of Tagore’s Amar Sonar Bangla* flower in the streets of Bengal
Curzon calls the Partition to create a divide
However, ‘culture’ thrives
As Muslims and Hindus, unite
The year is 1947
Bloodshed and madness pick up as
Radcliffe creates new lines
People leave ‘homes’
To find new ones
Violence slices humanity
How could Bengal survive?
The year is 1965
Bengal has two sons, one -- West Bengal
The second, ‘East Pakistan’
As conflicts flare again, the memory of the lost home revives
Women adorning sarees sing the lyrics of that Rabindra Sangeet
The year is 1971
Liberation calls are made
As women get raped
A new nation is born but the legacy of the past still prospers
A woman in Bangladesh teaches her daughter tunes of Tagore’s song written in 1905 --
Amar Sonar Bangla may have been lost but is it fully forgotten?
It still hums ...somewhere
* The national anthem adopted by Bangladesh in 1971. It was written by Tagore to unite Bengalis together to oppose the 1905 Partition.
Isha Sharma is passionate about the process of translating emotions into verses. Her works, including articles and poems, have been published in Borderless Journal, Kitaab International, The Indian Literary Review, The Indian Periodical, The Indian Express, Indus Women Writing Newsletter, The Feminist Times, and The Tribune (Student Edition).
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