English Poems
I have said little
I have said little
Like the clouds gathering slowly
With water secretly rising up the riverside
I have said little
Like the dim lights simmering
At a mofussil town
I have said as little
As one can
When meeting after a long interlude
I have said little
Much less than the width
Of a winter river
I have said little
Like a buoy floating
little above water
I have said so little
Did not have much space either
Days and nights are also small
I have said little
So that the silence in between
Is translated well
I have said so little
That there is not much scope
for misunderstanding
How much more
Does one need to say
When you profess love
Censored
He is presiding over the show
Knows he will be pulled down if he chooses to speak out
Instead he bends down
To ensure the light on his face
He is the Chairman, always alert
Avoids placing his voice
That might take away his chair
He is the Chief Guest
Never takes the floor
Aware that his position is too fragile to take such risks
She is the head of various committee
Extremely careful
Knows when not to react
To keep the her shelter intact
He is the Chief of a sub committee
Knows the game only too well
Wears sunglasses to not to look through disturbing visuals
The activist remains tongue tied
Her revolts have long since withered away
I am one of those ordinary people
Who observe everything from the shadow of light
Outside the well- lit stage
Neither do I have a stage, a chair or a subcommittee
Nor a sunglass
But I enjoy the freedom of a blossoming flower
Still I remain scared, if not raising the voice
Takes that right away
For the sake of Love
The conditions that I once set for love
Are being used by others now
I found India setting the same terms
In discussions with Russia
America with Guatemala
Anuradha ‘s aunt was laying down
The same conditions for her housemaid
Rashmi had to deal with the same ones
In her new job
But all these conditions were mine
That was stored only for love
The conditions that I once set for love
I find all those are being misused by others
So now there are no more conditions left in my love
You can easily come over one day
And check for yourself
All About Umbrellas
What Am I Doing?
Alexander lived for thirty three years
Kaliprasanna Sinha only till thirty one
Bhola master of our locality in his seventies
Used to practise yoga clad in shorts and a sleeveless vest
But what am I doing?
Sisir Kumar Bhaduri when he was thirty two
had produced the famous play “Sita”
Nikunja Pramanik was featured in every newspaper
After he cycled continuously for eleven days
Our neighbour, the eccentric Naba, was kept confined at home
Used to thumbs down all passers by who crossed his window
But what is my contribution
What am I doing? What? What? How much?
This very thought is nagging me since morning
A narrow lane
Flanked by humans on both sides
None of them are carrying their head on their shoulders
Am I also in that convoy of headless torsos
I’ve tried placing my head on each of these bodies
Through out my life
Checking out which body can carry my head
And make me look like myself
All of a sudden
If I suddenly fall in love all over again
And I in flames, jump into the water
Thinking you to be there
All the water vapourises by the sudden touch of fire
How will you then hide yourself?
If all of a sudden all these premonitions come true?
Spoken words
I have said a lot
Just before sunset
So much was not necessary
Folks might get me wrong
I have spoken a lot.
So much utterances before sunrise
Seem superfluous
To people, and even to me.
I have spoken such a lot
Have I been able to get across
My thoughts?
Are you scared?
All that I possessed and kept with myself
Is washed away in water
Now I’m staying with you
All by myself, with you
Alone, yes alone, by myself
Now the rain is lashing randomly
Someone has arrived at my door
Suddenly the day is over
Now I have to ask you
Are you scared?
Destiny
A touch is hidden within the cloud
The desires are thickening on the fingers
Someone is hiding behind the shadow
And breaking the water-column again and again
Maybe a teenager has stolen a piece of cloud
For you, and is going somewhere.
Unbeknownst to him
He has grown old walking.
The cloud only knows
Whose age has advanced in secret.
A touch, stolen behind the clouds,
Still accepts the wetness of the air.
If you live in love
In my brief political life
The select few who I thought were real friends
Were not vegetarians
Loved music
Even few kept cats as pets
That we could come close
Was not because we had identical political thoughts
Or, that we all preferred mountains in our leisure trips
Some loved forests, some even river banks
Pork roast was a favourite of few, while tandoori chicken was the preferred dish of many
Even though my choice remained beef steak
We went bear hunting in the monsoons
Winter was the season for classical music
We debated on political observations during our holidays
Still we remained friends
Only affection bonding us together
As we loved each others’ beliefs
So did we respect their disbeliefs too
In my brief political life
I have realized
Real friendship
Emanates only from love
Translated by Barnali Roy
14th May, 1988
All Of A Sudden
If I suddenly fall in love all over again
And I in flames, jump into the water
Thinking you to be there
All the water evaporates by the sudden touch of fire
How will you then hide yourself?
If all of a sudden all these premonitions come true?
Noiseless
The dam breaks down in high tide
In the wee hours of the morning making a roaring noise
The break of dawn is shattered by
The sound of an old house crashing down in torrential rain
An international flight comes down
In an alien land, making a deafening noise
Suddenly a glassbowl slips from the hand
And comes apart with a cracking noise
A mother breaks down on her child s death,
With a mournful cry, a suffocating noise
A brilliant stage performance prompts lot of claps,
A thunderous applause, reverberating noise
Living together for a long time, one day
The relationship is pulled apart
Noiselessly