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Minneapolis, MN,
December, 2007
Snow
`
Flakes float down.
Unhurried, and casual
And settle down unnoticed
Beautiful in their silence.
`
Flakes float down.
Unhurried, and casual
And settle down unnoticed
Beautiful in their silence.
`
Minneapolis, MN,
November, 2007
Fall
`
Leaves
Now gold and orange,
and red
Shimmer in the sun.
They look beautiful.
Excited
and full of mirth.
And I so like the way
They sing and they sway.
Yet, I cannot love them.
Pretty they may be
But they do not belong to me.
`
Leaves
Now gold and orange,
and red
Shimmer in the sun.
They look beautiful.
Excited
and full of mirth.
And I so like the way
They sing and they sway.
Yet, I cannot love them.
Pretty they may be
But they do not belong to me.
`
Minneapolis, MN,
October, 2007
The way I love her
`
I am a selfish lover.
I love her
Deeply, and passionately
But that love belongs to me.
I keep it, greedily
Not even letting her know
I love her at all.
I do not desire her
And I am not her well-wisher.
I do not wish to talk
Or sit with her.
It feels uncomfortable
To have her around.
All I want is to love her
And be left alone with it
For I love loving her
Just like that.
`
I am a selfish lover.
I love her
Deeply, and passionately
But that love belongs to me.
I keep it, greedily
Not even letting her know
I love her at all.
I do not desire her
And I am not her well-wisher.
I do not wish to talk
Or sit with her.
It feels uncomfortable
To have her around.
All I want is to love her
And be left alone with it
For I love loving her
Just like that.
`
`
I do not know what I want to write.
I have written to you before
Of grave things;
They are, though, but empty words.
Caged in an empty world.
They are products of my ignorance.
You are so far away,
But I cannot feel it.
Do you hear me when I key this in,
Or when you read it?
I feel you hear it when I think of it.
Within my mind.
I do not know why I write.
And I do not know what.
And I do not know.
I am ignorant. Yet, I love.
Read the Gita.
Full of empty words. And nice things.
It will do you good.
When I read the Gita, I feel nice.
It is nice then.
So I stop reading.
But again, later, it is not so nice sometimes.
So I have to read again.
I have to read again and again; a little each time,
Till I feel nice.
I have tried to read even after I have begun feeling nice,
But that gets boring, and the nice feeling goes away.
So I stop when it is nice.
And love.
`
Full of empty words. And nice things.
It will do you good.
When I read the Gita, I feel nice.
It is nice then.
So I stop reading.
But again, later, it is not so nice sometimes.
So I have to read again.
I have to read again and again; a little each time,
Till I feel nice.
I have tried to read even after I have begun feeling nice,
But that gets boring, and the nice feeling goes away.
So I stop when it is nice.
And love.
`
Minneapolis, MN,
Emon dine tare bola jay
`
Translated from the original song in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore
`
Translated from the original song in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore
`
On a day like this she can be told
On a day like this of dense downpour.
On a day like this the mind can be unwrapped –
With such a resonant note When the dark clouds pour
Under the sun-less dense murk.
On a day like this of dense downpour.
On a day like this the mind can be unwrapped –
With such a resonant note When the dark clouds pour
Under the sun-less dense murk.
None else shall hear what is said then,
Deserted and lonesome all around.
Just facing each other Immersed in the depths of gloom,
In the skies the waters pour incessant
As if there were none else in the world.
Deserted and lonesome all around.
Just facing each other Immersed in the depths of gloom,
In the skies the waters pour incessant
As if there were none else in the world.
The social order, it was all false,
False was this very chorus of life.
Only with my eyes Sipping the harmony in hers
With my heart hearting all feeling –
The rest having melted into the darkness.
False was this very chorus of life.
Only with my eyes Sipping the harmony in hers
With my heart hearting all feeling –
The rest having melted into the darkness.
Who in the world would be harmed in that
If I could lighten my heavy heart.
In this monsoon downpour Alone in a corner
If I spoke with her a few words
Who would be bothered by that.
If I could lighten my heavy heart.
In this monsoon downpour Alone in a corner
If I spoke with her a few words
Who would be bothered by that.
Today the wind blows at such an anxious pace,
Lightning falteringly flashes time and again.
Those words that in this life Have stayed unspoken within
It seems they all can be said today –
On a day like this of dense downpour.
Lightning falteringly flashes time and again.
Those words that in this life Have stayed unspoken within
It seems they all can be said today –
On a day like this of dense downpour.
`
Bengaluru, KA,
July, 2007
Sakhi bhabona kahare bole
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`
Translated from the original song in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore
`
Dear, what do you call thought
Dear, what do you name pain
Dear, what do you name pain
All of you talk day and night
So much about 'love' –
So much about 'love' –
Dear, what do you call ‘love’!
Is it only filled with hurt?
Is it only filled with hurt?
Is it only the teardrops?
Is it only the sad sighs?
Is it only the sad sighs?
Why then do they
Seeking what pleasure
Hope for such gloom?
Seeking what pleasure
Hope for such gloom?
To my eye, all seems beautiful
All young, all chaste,
The deep blue sky, the green groves,
The deep blue sky, the green groves,
The profound moonlight, and tender bloom –
They all are like me.
They all are like me.
They just laugh away, and sing aloud,
Laughing and playing, they wish to die –
Laughing and playing, they wish to die –
They know not pain, they know not tear,
They know not the aches of affection.
They know not the aches of affection.
The flower cheerfully wilts away,
The moonlight gaily fades off,
The moonlight gaily fades off,
Laughing in a sea of light
The stars slowly lose their form.
The stars slowly lose their form.
Who is more content than me.
Come dear, o come to me –
Come dear, o come to me –
The blissful song of this content heart
Shall fill your mind, and balm your soul.
Shall fill your mind, and balm your soul.
If you will merely cry each day
Just this one day then laugh aloud –
Just this one day then laugh aloud –
Just this one day, forgetting your grief
Let's all sing in unison
Let's all sing in unison
Dear, what do you call thought
Dear, what do you name pain
Dear, what do you name pain
All of you talk day and night
So much about 'love' –
So much about 'love' –
Dear, what do you call ‘love’!
`
Bengaluru, KA,
July, 2007
Eavesdropper
`
Grave grooves
Of dark, grave hills.
The rain slithers down
Crawling along broad shoulders
Of tall, shadowy trees,
An ancient, familiar rendezvous.
The rain whispers
In dappled notes;
The trees answer back,
Witnessed by the dark
Silence
Of the hills.
The exchange is patient
Yet restless.
' wonder what it is!
' wonder what plans they have
For man…
`
Grave grooves
Of dark, grave hills.
The rain slithers down
Crawling along broad shoulders
Of tall, shadowy trees,
An ancient, familiar rendezvous.
The rain whispers
In dappled notes;
The trees answer back,
Witnessed by the dark
Silence
Of the hills.
The exchange is patient
Yet restless.
' wonder what it is!
' wonder what plans they have
For man…
`
Chandannagar, WB,
July, 2007
`
The slum-child tugged at my cloak. As I looked down, she composed herself, raised her eye-brows and frowned with intent. Then, with her six year old large eyes and lovable lisp, she calmly placed the request: “Can you fetth me thome moonlight uncle? Our home is thoo dhark, andh I am cared at night.”
Smiling, I said, “Sure.”
`
The slum-child tugged at my cloak. As I looked down, she composed herself, raised her eye-brows and frowned with intent. Then, with her six year old large eyes and lovable lisp, she calmly placed the request: “Can you fetth me thome moonlight uncle? Our home is thoo dhark, andh I am cared at night.”
Smiling, I said, “Sure.”
`
Bengaluru, KA,
June, 2007
Lines between us
`
Creased across your brow
They bother me
Hesitant but rigid
With age
Lines
Now arduously diffusing
Onto your rosy cheeks
And from that corner
Of your eye
Like a dark nest
Fate
Scrambles them carelessly
Irritated
Lines
I had scribbled for you
Dishonest
Lie scattered between
Us, daring
To be crossed
`
Creased across your brow
They bother me
Hesitant but rigid
With age
Lines
Now arduously diffusing
Onto your rosy cheeks
And from that corner
Of your eye
Like a dark nest
Fate
Scrambles them carelessly
Irritated
Lines
I had scribbled for you
Dishonest
Lie scattered between
Us, daring
To be crossed
`
Bengaluru, KA,
May, 2007
Beneath the corporate froth
`
Days flow by
like a ripened River
Shimmering, but Still
indifferently watching
Familiar
Undated
Images
on its banks
and never bothering
to Capture any of them
only getting Slow and Heavy
with Gray silt
picked up Unnoticed
and now Drifting
Languidly
into a Murkier Still
`
Days flow by
like a ripened River
Shimmering, but Still
indifferently watching
Familiar
Undated
Images
on its banks
and never bothering
to Capture any of them
only getting Slow and Heavy
with Gray silt
picked up Unnoticed
and now Drifting
Languidly
into a Murkier Still
`
Bengaluru, KA,
May, 2007
`
I am small and insignificant.
Yet, when I laugh
In the timbre of that laughter dances all the happiness of the world;
And when I weep
In every teardrop lies concealed all of its sorrow.
I am small and insignificant,
Yet my master has entrusted within me all the vastness of his creations.
`
I am small and insignificant.
Yet, when I laugh
In the timbre of that laughter dances all the happiness of the world;
And when I weep
In every teardrop lies concealed all of its sorrow.
I am small and insignificant,
Yet my master has entrusted within me all the vastness of his creations.
`
Bengaluru, KA,
April, 2007
Barefoot
`
Early summer.
Along the slums
It is a little shrubby,
And as always, grimy
With black dirt.
With two blackened bananas
Discovered by the gutter
My little girl flits
Happy and barefoot.
`
Early summer.
Along the slums
It is a little shrubby,
And as always, grimy
With black dirt.
With two blackened bananas
Discovered by the gutter
My little girl flits
Happy and barefoot.
`
Bengaluru, KA,
April, 2007
Grandfather
`
2000 kilometers away, today morning
He died.
I felt sad.
I loved him
And even wanted to cry,
But of course, I did not.
I remembered
How he had worked
Days and nights on end
To sustain the family,
Educate my father;
I remembered –
What I was today was because
Of all that he had been.
Today, in the evening
We friends met up
As had been decided
And had a gala time.
2000 kilometers away, at home
They wept all night.
I loved him
And I did not cry at all.
`
2000 kilometers away, today morning
He died.
I felt sad.
I loved him
And even wanted to cry,
But of course, I did not.
I remembered
How he had worked
Days and nights on end
To sustain the family,
Educate my father;
I remembered –
What I was today was because
Of all that he had been.
Today, in the evening
We friends met up
As had been decided
And had a gala time.
2000 kilometers away, at home
They wept all night.
I loved him
And I did not cry at all.
`
Bengaluru, KA,
April, 2007
Sravan Sentiments
`
The deep dark clouds rumble
And crash into the woods.
A thousand raindrops
Suddenly spill over the ancient foliage.
Shrieking, she takes off.
Her anxious feet dart by
And she flashes through the woods,
Her drenched veil
Hugging onto her breasts.
And then, suddenly, she stops.
Her large, dark eyes
Scared and eager
Quiver.
The rains hiss down
Shivering and cold
As she clutches herself close.
A sword of light scars the sky
A cloud claps out loud
As if woken, she smiles,
Lighting up the whole forest
With a hundred torches.
Flinging her arms, she flies off
Again, flashing past.
Only now here,
And now no more.
`
The deep dark clouds rumble
And crash into the woods.
A thousand raindrops
Suddenly spill over the ancient foliage.
Shrieking, she takes off.
Her anxious feet dart by
And she flashes through the woods,
Her drenched veil
Hugging onto her breasts.
And then, suddenly, she stops.
Her large, dark eyes
Scared and eager
Quiver.
The rains hiss down
Shivering and cold
As she clutches herself close.
A sword of light scars the sky
A cloud claps out loud
As if woken, she smiles,
Lighting up the whole forest
With a hundred torches.
Flinging her arms, she flies off
Again, flashing past.
Only now here,
And now no more.
`
Bengaluru, KA,
March, 2007
AmAr rang thulir gappa
(script guide - a: ajagar; A: aam ...)
`
Aj sakAle base rang karechhi
je chhabigulo
chamke diye phute utthchhila mane,
seigulo
se majAr kathA:
AjkAl dhhoosar man
thAi prathame
ektu kAlche dhhoosar dhiyei shuru karlAm
mAnushher rang dhhoosar, jAmA dhhoosar,
gAchh dhoosar, sab dhhoosar
kAlo dhiye AlAdA karA
jAthe dhhoosar dhhoosar mishe nA jAy
dhekhe keman lAgla,
keman maylA jena,
shahure dhhnoyAy ddhAkA
man keman karchhila,
chakh buje base thhAklAm khAnik khan
thArpar abAk kAnda,
jena bnAdhh bhAngla
bhese ela kachi sabuj
sabje jAmA, lAl tthnoth
kuchkuche kAla chool
gAl bhora shubhro hashi
sab spashhta
jena ei sedhiner kathha
khelAr chhale
lAl, neeler mela basle,
dhhoosar kothhay hAriye gele.
lAler phnAke sAdA hAse
sabuj dine neel AkAshe
Ami o sei hAsir sAthhe
prAn bhariye nilem hese;
ghure phire beriye khele
hAriye gelem chhabir mAjhe
kAtla anek khon
AmAr deyAl dhoosar
thAr madhdhhikhAne perek pnuthe bnAdhhAna chhabi besh kare tAngiye rekhechhi
`
`
Aj sakAle base rang karechhi
je chhabigulo
chamke diye phute utthchhila mane,
seigulo
se majAr kathA:
AjkAl dhhoosar man
thAi prathame
ektu kAlche dhhoosar dhiyei shuru karlAm
mAnushher rang dhhoosar, jAmA dhhoosar,
gAchh dhoosar, sab dhhoosar
kAlo dhiye AlAdA karA
jAthe dhhoosar dhhoosar mishe nA jAy
dhekhe keman lAgla,
keman maylA jena,
shahure dhhnoyAy ddhAkA
man keman karchhila,
chakh buje base thhAklAm khAnik khan
thArpar abAk kAnda,
jena bnAdhh bhAngla
bhese ela kachi sabuj
sabje jAmA, lAl tthnoth
kuchkuche kAla chool
gAl bhora shubhro hashi
sab spashhta
jena ei sedhiner kathha
khelAr chhale
lAl, neeler mela basle,
dhhoosar kothhay hAriye gele.
lAler phnAke sAdA hAse
sabuj dine neel AkAshe
Ami o sei hAsir sAthhe
prAn bhariye nilem hese;
ghure phire beriye khele
hAriye gelem chhabir mAjhe
kAtla anek khon
AmAr deyAl dhoosar
thAr madhdhhikhAne perek pnuthe bnAdhhAna chhabi besh kare tAngiye rekhechhi
`
Bengaluru, KA,
February, 2007
On the terrace
`
Now on the terrace,
Sitting.
The night breeze flows
Combing my hair
Back, and above
The night is dark
And shallow
Planets don't twinkle.
The neons glare aloud
As the incessant
Traffic screams by.
Clutching
The wind and the night,
I, helpless,
Try escaping.
`
Now on the terrace,
Sitting.
The night breeze flows
Combing my hair
Back, and above
The night is dark
And shallow
Planets don't twinkle.
The neons glare aloud
As the incessant
Traffic screams by.
Clutching
The wind and the night,
I, helpless,
Try escaping.
`
Bengaluru, KA,
February, 2007
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