Translations
Month of the Flowers
Friday, May 16th, 2008Ajit Dutta (1907-1979) was born in Bikrampur, Dhaka and stood first in Sanskrit and Bengali M.A. examinations from Dhaka University. He taught Bengali language and literature and was recognized as a distinguished poet of modern Bengali. Along with Buddheva Bose, he jointly edited the Pragati magazine and later joined the Kallol group. He was one [...]
A modern epic
Thursday, May 1st, 2008A re-reading of Satinath Bhaduri’s Dhonrai Charit Manas (1949-51) is akin to bringing the vision of a mercurial kaleidoscope before our eyes. The novel has a marvellous narrative structure. It has a swift narrative style so rich in events that the alluvial shoal of personal experiences never rise above the flood-streams. The magnificence of the [...]
For two yards of land
Saturday, April 12th, 2008Bahadur Shah Zafar (1775-1862), the last of the Mughal emperors, was a weak king but a remarkable poet. His reign was characterized by chaos, unrest and the domination of the British. His rule also witnessed the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 after which the Badshah was exiled to Rangoon where he spent the last years of [...]
A fragment of Torn Letters
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008A few lines from Rabindranath Tagore’s Chhinna Patra (Torn Letters) in my translation… These days of Bhadra are almost windless and the loose sails of the boat hang lazily — the boat remains work-shy, unperturbed; it moves ever so sluggishly, its indolent movements scarcely awakening a ripple on the water. This widespread kingdom of water [...]
Rabindranath Tagore’s poem Mrityunjay
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008মৃত্যুঞ্জয় রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর দূর হতে ভেবেছিনু মনে– দুর্জয় নির্দয় তুমি, কাঁপে পৃথ্বী তোমার শাসনে৷ তুমি বিভিষীকা, দু:খীর বিদীর্ণ বক্ষে জ্বলে তব লেলিহান শিখা৷ দক্ষিণ হাতের শেল উঠেছে ঝড়ের মেঘ-পানে, সেথা হতে বজ্র টেনে আনে৷ ভয়ে ভয়ে এসেছিনু দুরুদুরু বুকে তোমার সম্মুখে৷ তোমার ভ্রূকুটিভঙ্গে তরঙ্গিল আসন্ন উত্পাত, নামিল আঘাত৷ পাঁজর উঠিল কেঁপে, বক্ষে হাত [...]