Aug 29, 2014

Do summon me tonight

ডাকো মোরে আজি এ নিশীথে
Daako morey aaji e nishithey

Do summon me tonight
When the world is asleep
Come into my heart
And call me in silence
Summon me to your bliss
Light your lamp
In the darkness within
Call me over and over again
Summon my unsconscious spirit

Why does sleep evade your eyes

ঘুম কেন নেই তোরই চোখে
Ghum keno nei tori chokhe

Who keeps you awake so
Why does sleep evade your eyes
You stare with an absent gaze
There in a distant corner of the sky
Night peers with eyes tinged red
In the radiant light of dawn

Why have you culled today
Many a crimson lotus
What gives you courage
To unbolt your door so
Who do you call with folded hands
And let cataclysm into your home

Aug 28, 2014

So deep a night deluged with rain

গহন রাতে শ্রাবণধারা পড়িছে ঝরে
Gohono raatey srabonodhara porichhey jhore

So deep a night deluged with rain
Why wake her up for no reason
A trace of her tears can still be seen
Her lips still hold the words unsaid

So be it if you strum a few notes
If your lute reveals your heart
At the portal of her sleep
So be it if you lay a blossom
Quietly on her undone tresses
String flowers around her wrist
Why wake her up for no reason

A deep dense night descends into my heart

গভীর রজনী নামিল হৃদয়ে
gobhir rojoni namilo hridoye

A deep night descends into my heart
Fades all flurry and furore
Now and then I hear
The murmur of distant seas

All desires flood back into my heart
The darkness grows thicker outside
A solitary lamp flickers
In the farthest nook of my heart

Infinite grace has led me to beauty
The game reaches it’s conclusion
Restless ripples of lively waves
Subside into the depths of the sea

Peace there is in a soundless chant
That echoes quietly in my heart
I close my eyes and see within
The beauty that is beyond all forms

Aug 24, 2014

The din and bustle is shut off

কোলাহল তো বারণ হল
Kolahol to baaron holo

The din and bustle is shut off
Whispered now will be the words
Hearts will know each other
With only music and lyric

People are afoot on the royal carriageway
The marketplace alive with trade
My respite comes at an untimely hour
In the middle of a day
I am called away from work
Who knows why

Let the flowers in my garden
Come untimely then into bloom
Let the bees buzz sweetly
In the middle of the day

Many a day has gone by
In dilemmas of right and wrong
My heart is now drawn towards
My playmate of this leisure hour
A call to take time off from work
Who knows why

Dark gray clouds huddle up

কালো মেঘের ঘটা ঘনায় রে
Kaalo megher ghota ghonaay re

Dark gray clouds huddle up
In a darkening sky
Drops of rain drizzle down
In deep dense forests

Breaking free at last
Blooms your blossom
In this downpour

O do arise, awake
Do not lose this hour

In which tearladen wind
In which earthy fragrance
Does his ache glide across
Can he still stay concealed

Aug 17, 2014

How enchanting you are

কত যে তুমি মনোহর মনই তাহা জানে
koto je tumi manohar

How enchanting you are
How you steal my heart
It is only my heart that knows
It trembles and throbs
In the melody of your song

Today in this dawn
The sun plays with the clouds
My eyes brim over as I gaze at you

Fidgety flickers of light
Ripple across the river
Peals of lilting laughter
Race across the forest leaves

What do I see in the sky
Is it the gaze of your eye
A deluge of divine sweetness
Drizzles down the blue above
Drizzles down into my heart

O my Oarsman

ওরে মাঝি, ওরে আমার মানবজন্মতরীর মাঝি
orey majhi

O my Oarsman
You who row the raft of my mortal being
Do you hear the flute that plays
Afar somewhere on the shore

Will your raft find a pier
At the end of day
Will I sight a row of lamps
In the darkness of dusk

In this achingly sweet breeze
My heart feels as if
A laughter from across the shore
Comes creeping along the darkness

I brought along a few flowers
That I plucked before I came
With the ones that are still fresh
Fashion a bouquet at the soonest

The boat has been unmoored

ওই রে তরী দিল খুলে
oi je tori dilo khule

The boat has been unmoored
Who will carry your load
When you go forward
Let the past stay behind
To carry it on your back
Would keep you behind all alone
You’ve dragged your burdens one by one
From your home to the shore
You kept going back time and again
For each thing you forgot
Call out to the oarsman, call out
Let your burdens drift away
Shake off all you have
And offer your life at his feet

Aug 16, 2014

Who wants to go to the other shore

ওগো, তোরা কে যাবি পারে
ogo tora ke jaabi pare

Who wants to go to the other shore
I sit at the riverbank ready with my boat
In the gardens on the other side
So many people, so much frolic
On this side a dreary desert
Thirsting for a drop of rain

The day has not gone by yet
Come, those who wish to go
Why waste time in deliberation
The sun will soon go down
This fortuitous wind will let up
The pier will close down in the gathering dusk

How could he forget all the love and hope

ওগো এত প্রেম-আশা
ogo ato prem asha

How could he forget all the love and hope
The deepest yearning of the heart
Doesn’t the moon there smile at night
Doesn’t the flute there play it’s tune

Here the breeze plunders the gardens
Doesn’t the wind there blow at all
It speaks of him to me ever so often
Doesn’t it ever speak to him of me

If he is to forget me today, my friend
Why did his love make me forget myself
To make me weep all my life
Is that what he wanted!

Many a pleasant night we spent on a carpet of flowers
Gazing into each other’s eyes
Did he know then that this pang of separation
Would be my friend for life

If he does not remember me
If he finds a life of peace
Do go and see him, my friends
This thirst of my eyes
This hope of my heart
Do offer at his feet
And take with you a part of my pain
How do I hide it anymore
And bring with you if you can steal
One teardrop of his

No, no, my friend
If he can forget all this love
Don’t entreat him anymore
I won’t say a word
I will bear my woe
Quietly in my heart
All of this is in vain, my friend
In vain is this love
In vain is this yearning
The days of bliss are gone
Never to return again

Aug 15, 2014

I hear as if his footsteps

ওই শুনি যেন চরণধ্বনি রে
Oi shuni jeno choronodhwoni re

I hear as if his footsteps
I hear it lost in myself
Is it my beloved
Coming in stealth to steal my heart

What are these hints I get
That make my tears well up
The fragrance of a garland
I know from my dreams

Spring waits for him along his path
A bouquet of flowers in her arms
Conch shells resound in the skies
Hope wafts across the azure

Say those words again my love

ওই কথা বলো সখী
Oi kotha bolo shokhi

Say those words my love, once again
Say you love me again and again
I have heard it many a time
Yet I want to hear them again
Say you love me again and again

Aug 14, 2014

Wake up, do wake up

ওঠো ওঠো রে-- বিফলে প্রভাত বহে যায় যে
otho otho re, biphole probhat bohe jaay je

Wake up, do wake up
The morn goes by in vain
Open your eyes, awaken, arise
Stay unconscious no more

Each one rushes to be of service
The morn breeze awakens
The sun jogs across the sky
As if the Lord calls them one by one
Bloom the forest flowers one by one

Listen to that call
Gaze up at that face
Seeking His blessings
Let us all embark upon His work

Aug 1, 2014

O listen! Who plays the flute

ওগো শোনো কে বাজায়
Ogo shono ke bajay

O listen! Who plays the flute
The fragrance of wild flowers fused in it’s melody
Touching his lips, the flute captures his smile
My sweetheart’s smile drifts across to me
Seizing my heart with so sweet a song

The buzz of bees in the bowers echo in it’s tune
So eager the Bakul buds bloom to it’s song

The lapping of the Yamuna reaches my ear
My heart cries out with longing
Who does the moon gaze at with a smile