Sukumar Ray’s Tuki Taki

মাসি গো মাসি পাচ্ছে হাসি
নিম গাছেতে হচ্ছে শিম
হাতির মাথায়ে ব্যাঙ্গের ছাতা
কাগের বাসায় বগের ডিম

Oh aunty, my aunty, such funny things I see
Kidney-beans are dangling from the Neem tree
Mammoths for brollies have toadstools there
And storks lay their eggs in the raven’s lair

বলব কি ভাই হুগলি গেলুম
বলছি তোমায় চুপি চুপি
দেখতে পেলাম তিনটে শুঁওর
মাথায় তাদের নেইকো টুপি!

What can I say, I was in Hooghly for a trip
I’ll share this little secret, don’t you let it slip
I saw three pigs, on the sidewalk they sat
But oh! Not a single one did wear a hat!

Biroso Din, Birolo Kaaj

A translation from the song by Robithakur..... (The original in Bangla follows)

This dismal day, idling away,
Like a rebellious spate
You arrive amore, arrive today
In what glorious gait!

Lone and lazy I lay here
In a quiet corner of my lair
You tore the door, unaware
Hey, invincible mate!
You arrive amore, arrive today
In what glorious gait!

Shadows caress blooming lawns
The skies are overcast
The great river gaily fawns
The Lord’s mopped mast

The roads are cleared in a jolt
As your victory chariots volt
Your eyes like thunderbolt
An enthralled infatuate
You arrive amore, arrive today
In what glorious gait!

Original Bangla:

বিরস দিন বিরল কাজ, প্রবল বিদ্রোহে
এসেছ প্রেম, এসেছ আজ কী মহা সমারোহে॥

একেলা রই অলসমন, নীরব এই ভবনকোণ,
ভাঙিলে দ্বার কোন্ সে ক্ষণ অপরাজিত ওহে॥
এসেছ প্রেম, এসেছ আজ কী মহা সমারোহে॥

কানন-'পরছায়া বুলায়, ঘনায় ঘনঘটা।
গঙ্গা যেন হেসে দুলায় ধূর্জটির জটা।

যেথা যে রয় ছাড়িল পথ, ছুটালে ওই বিজয়রথ,
আঁখি তোমার তড়িতবৎ ঘনঘুমের মোহে॥
এসেছ প্রেম, এসেছ আজ কী মহা সমারোহে॥

encounter with eternity

Wordless whispers echoing loud
Crying hearts and minds so proud
Eternity thrust into a room
Small, dark and full of gloom
Spiders crawling everywhere
Eyeing with their terrifying stare
And there you are left alone to die
No one to help or hear your cry
You become mad day by day
As solitude tears your mind away
You shout and pull at your hair
You confess and you never dare
Isolation eats at your heart
Bit by bit it’s torn apart
You try to rise, but stumble and fall
A hissing laughter shakes the wall
A shiver runs down your spine
Your lips are dry but you get no wine
You know in some corner there
Waits a well, its opening bare
Somewhere the ticking of a clock
Tells the time with a steady shock
Terrified, you reach for the door
But slip and fall on the oily floor
You catch the smell of dried blood
You bury your face in the mud
Someone pulls at your leg
You open your mouth in vain to beg
In the room you suffocate
But even death seems to wait
You cannot eat, you cannot sleep
You cannot laugh, you cannot weep
No one listens as you pray
Your flesh slowly rots away
The blood dries in your vein
Solitude eats up your brain
You long for death and yet you live
You want to take but have to give
The open pit beckons you
You want to escape into the blue
The clock goes on ticking time
As you struggle in the slime
You crawl ahead on the floor
Among the spiders you explore
Suddenly the door opens apart
With renewed hope and joy you start
Splash into the pit you fall
One more spider adds to the wall