A Tribute to Sukanta Bhattacharya

A Tribute to Sukanta Bhattacharya

A Garland of poems: Translation of the poetic works of Sukanta Bhattacharya by Barnali Saha




Oh Great life: "He Mohajibon"


Oh great life, no more poetry should you knit
Bring on rigid, rigid prose
Let rhyme, rhythm and rhetoric obliterate
Pound the hard hammer of prose
No one needs the soft bower of poetic pleonasm
Poetry, I now bid you adieu
The hungry world is decked with prosaic fiction

The full moon is but scalded flat bread!!


Endeavor: "Udyog"

Dear friend, shed thy apprehension, make thy spirit astute,
Let the rogues learn that the soil of Bengal is a citadel impregnable.
Banish the ignorant adversary, raise thy spirit dismal,
Let the enemies eradicate in the hands country integrated.
Reap the harvest; be the rebellious spirits by sickles fortified,
Sing thy songs; polish thy armaments from dusk to dawn,
With strong teeth and brave will impede the stubborn.
In every blade of the grass green lighting strikes and there is distinct uproar,
The workers now let the thud of the hammer soar.

There comes failure; abhorrence for the rivals start to solidify,
May the cowardly mistaken existence in a deluge wither and die,
In the helpless nation decant life unassailable,
Ready we are messengers of war will strike the east-door.

In Feni, Assam and in Chattyagram the frenzied crowds cry,
Friend, leave thy apprehension, make thy spirit astute,
Let the rogues learn that the soil of Bengal is a citadel impregnable.


License Permit: "Charpotro"

The child who genuflected tonight
Heard the news from him:
He has a got a license permit,
He now shouts his rights to the new world,
Through his piercing postnatal cry.

His frail and unaided body, yet his balled fist
Ecstatic, euphoric
In some unintelligible vow.

Nobody follows his speech
Some laugh, some utter mild aspersions.
But in my mind I can comprehend that language
I got a mail from the new eon
An epistle of identity from a new born child

Through his indistinct, nebulous glance

A new child has come; we have to give him his place
From the threadbare world of frustration, with a burden of death and rubble

We have to depart.
We shall leave--but as long as life shines in our veins
We shall clean the earthly debris tirelessly,
I will make this world livable for the new born child
This is my pledge to the newborn.

Finally after all is done
I will bless the child with my blood,

Then to eternality I shall fade.


Feeling: "Anubhab"

1940

The astonished world! You astonished me
Soon after birth I see the infuriated homeland.
Astonished world, we are subjugated
Astonished, how fury files up with every passing day
Astonished world, you amazed me more…

I see people do not have food in this country
Astonished world, surprised everytime
I see the reign of death in this world.
Whenever I took the calculating book
I see-- "blood shed" printed there
Kicks are all we got from being born in this land
Astonished world, I bow to thee!

1947

Rebel, rebel reins free today,
I go to the day marking a calendar
Such insurgence no eyes had seen,
In corners wave of disobedience surge
Come down from your dreamy cliffs
Did you hear? Hear the indomitable clamor?
The shutdown is writing a new history,
With blood the illustrations are done.
Every day who are abhorred and dominated,
See they stand united today;
I stand with that group
I live and die with them.
That is why I pen the daily calendar…
Rebel, rebel reins free today.





The Stairs:"Siri"
We are the stairs
In your quest to rise you trample on us everyday
Then you never stop and look back
Our hearts elate with the dust of your feet
We are kicked and assailed regularly

You know our agony
So you use the carpet to camouflage the lacerations of our heart
You try to mask the evidence of your tortures
And from this world you want to hide
The reverberation of your lofty foot steps.

But in our heart we all know
that your atrocities will not be hidden forever
like emperor Humayan
you feet could also slip.












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