Gopal Lahiri’s Poems Translated by Sutanuka Ghosh Roy

Sutanuka Ghosh Roy

An Imaginary Planet

 

People who had come to slaughter

was driven away by the ice-cold North Wind.

The hands of the plunderers were severed by the bright rays of the Sun.

Revenge, hate, and fear has been wiped by the sudden drops of rain

the doubt-stricken mind is tip-toeing

the journey of light and wind.

The black and white bird has craned its neck to

sing the prelude of the song

The yellow and green leaves are swirling fromone address to the other.

The morning mist is wiping the morose visage

War and revenge have long been dabbed away

In the sepia-coloured pages of history, the pain is documented

No one here is famished, there are no fights

The common masses never bend their heads

This is a surreal time! A dreamlike experience!

Amid a dark sky an imaginary

Planet has just been born!

 

 

Bliss

 

Two, three raindrops are falling on the earth

sleeping in the dump, I hear

the temple bells weave out the dreamy yarn

of word-playing with virtue and vice.

Life is waiting for a new leash

the afternoon siesta is broken by a whip

the mob is trying to trample down…

 

Nobody is cocksure of my shortcomings

have to break the barricades of dehumanized humans

this is one resolution.

The fire from the hearth engulfs my body, my entails, my ash-smitten bones

waiting for the Bliss

come let us absolve by the water of Ganges!

***

 

Gopal Lahiri is a Kolkata- based bilingual poet, critic, editor, writer and translator with 21 books published, 13 in English and 8 in Bengali, including three joint books. His poetry is also published across various anthologies as well as in eminent journals of India and abroad. He has been invited in various poetry festivals including World Congress of Poets recently held in India. He works have been published in 12 countries and in 10 languages.

Note: Translation like many other fields too has been the domain of men who have voiced opinions of women A man voicing /translating the voice of a woman is appreciated or rather applauded while a woman being the voice of a man is looked upon with disdain. While translating these two poems of the noted bilingual poet Gopal Lahiri I have tried to capture the essence of poetry not as a woman but as a human being.

Bionote: Sutanuka Ghosh Roy is Assistant Professor English in Tarakeswar Degree College, The University of Burdwan, WB, India. She is currently engaged in active research and her areas of interest include Eighteenth-Century Literature, Indian English Literature, Postcolonial Literature, Australian Studies, Dalit Literature, Gender Studies, etc. She has published widely and presented papers at National and International Seminars. She is a regular contributor to research articles and papers to anthologies, national and international journals of repute like Muse India, Setu, Lapiz Lazuli, The Statesman, Life and Legends, Kitaab etc. She has guest-edited the July 2020 Issue of SETU on Children’s Literature. Her poems have been anthologized and published in Setu, Piker Press, Harbinger Asylum, etc. The title of her book is Critical Inquiry: Text, Context, and Perspectives. She is also a reviewer, a poet, and a critic.

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Setu Special 2020 :: Setu, November 2020