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A fragment of Torn Letters
By Subhamay Ray | April 8, 2008
A few lines from Rabindranath Tagore’s Chhinna Patra (Torn Letters) in my translation…
The possibility of an impending interruption brought the desire to enjoy this silent seclusion closer to the mind. It seemed as if my sensitive companion came to take leave when I am away, with a sorrowful and steadfast gaze. It seemed as if I was asked…..”Where is your family, the bonds of relations! Am I not your eternal quest, your beloved from a thousand births, am I not your only acquaintance out of those myriad, broken acquaintances of a life spread over an eternity? ” These words would seem unreal in the workdays of the present when the mind is in direct contact with the world. Even then, in the abundant peace of this early autumn, is it not enough if I can bathe every layer of my soul? My deepest rewards and satisfactions in this life come to me all piled up only in these reclusive moments. They make me aware of the emerging truth in the depth of my soul. I only get a glimpse of it and realise that it is my permanent and regular sustenance, the gold that I got after melting the essences of my life. It is the corn that has grown like a nectar within the husk of all my sorrows and pain. If it fully blossoms for me, would it not be more valuable than all my worldly acquisitions? If it remains shy and hidden away, even if I didn’t reach it completely, won’t this irresistible and natural flow of my mind towards it be my greatest reward?
Topics: Translations, Translations from Bengali |