কবিতাভ
The
Deemed Poems
Editor's Preface to কবিতাভ or Deemed Poems
I happened to know the author
of these couplets as a relation since my early childhood. However this is a secondary
matter in this Preface. This collection of hundred couplets each not exceeding four
lines is an experiment. This has got published as a book – in Bengali earlier. The
author has then translated these couplets into English. We have two advantages here : firstly for the author being a scholar of English language
and literature and secondly, his commitment and power to treat them with a delicacy
they not only deserve but their very survival
depends on it.
It was my idea to put this in
Web for wider readers to read and enjoy. The author agreed to and so, dear readers,
you see them here.
The concept of Deemed Poems reminds me of those
four line couplets of Tagore – where profound themes of
existence were dealt within these narrow narrative boundaries. Surpisingly, these poems have a sharpness of their own, inspite of and perhaps due to their strict brevity.
Finally, these hundred couplets
are released into the vastness of Internet – in textual form. It is my hope that
readers – known and unknown will enjoy their simplicity, their native freshness
and a poignant sadness which is more aesthetic than romantic. The romantic waiting
in these couplets may lead us into a mood of melancholy but there are subterranean
hints – continuous throughout – on a celebration of Life and a return to Life.
In both Bengali (more so) and
English, these couplets have seemed to me like fireflies seen while traveling by a train ( train journey
from Silchar to Karimganj some
fifteen years back. Karimganj, in
I hope that readers will feel
that illumined glow – the আভা of these
deemed poems.
June 2007
Contact: wordsmith_bengal@yahoo.co.in
Author’s
Submission
I have
always a habit of recording my different intimate feelings in my diary that
cryptically sweep my mind at different times.My
friends believe these might be published as tiny lyrics although I hesitate if
they could be called poems at all.that made me name
the work as ‘কভিতাভ’ – translated into English as deemed poems.
Thus the
book was first published in Bengali in 1996.This is my own translation of the
original and is renamed as ‘Deemed poem’ . While I
remember Shri Amitava Choudhury of Kolkata for support
to me , I again dedicate this version in memory of
late Bibhash Chandra, my mentor.
Satyajoti
Bhattacharyya
03843260632(L)
9435375245(M)
Karimganj :
Pin : 788710
(1)
Roses keep blooming,
petals withering
Since long . But you couldn’t make time to come.Piqued
as I prepare to uproot them ,I see
You already
frequented all the while
By the wings of bees .
(2)
Currants I eat no more.
Lovely Vineyard of juicy ‘basrai’ pearls I grew.
And they all dry up into
currants in endless wait for you.
(3)
The twigs full of innumerable
naughty flowers
Convulse with laughter.
The moment just one was
plucked along with its stalk ,
The garden put up a black face.
(4)
The huge weight was difficult
to fly with at a stretch
Which I rested with you awhile.
Bearing the gushing fountain
of love simply got me tired.
(5)
Green is outside, green is the
colour of the wall ,
Even the fluttering curtains
are green .
Why then hide your mind behind
saffron robes !
(6)
Who would understand why I
make you cry every now and then !
Otherwise your oyster-eyes
would never shed pearls so frequently.
(7)
If only once you flash like a
lightning in the horizon ,
I can thunder all around in
the mid-sky a thousand times .
(8)
I lay in wait in the dark for
you
But before I knew that it was
not the darkness ,
But your ‘Nalambari’
all over , the night dawned .
(9)
I did my coiffure
, used collyrium , wore bluish sari
To visitthe
tryst for you . But when sudden rain
Spoilt everything to my utter frustration , I saw
You kept hugging me against
your massive black shape .
(10)
I was expectantly excited for
the arrival of
Someone big since morning , but didn’t know
When you flew in as a
butterfly
And possessed me in
my stupor.
(11)
You are too busy a person to
be detained .
But why not rest awhile in my
intent thought !
(12)
You left a passionate kiss on
my cheek in intimate embrace .
The tooth-mark still exists , but that kiss eludes me.
(13)
You are as if a ‘bakul’ flower buried long back
But as you grow older , the perfume keeps increasing .
(14)
I yearned to see you bare but
lacked courage .
When the gust of savage wind
splashed on you ,
I stood jealous
.
(15)
You lament your graying hair , don’t you ?
I have a trick. I just close
my eyes
And you are again that same
brunette.
(16)
You used to sink your face
Into my stark dark hair .
Now it is only a catkin bush
How can I show my face?
(17)
Me thought I would
ever see my face
In the lake of your eyes .
Now those eyes are full of
rheum
Why did you betray me?
(18)
While I was young
, you were adolescent .
Now I am old but you are still
the same-
Seems , you would continue
to be obstinate !
(19)
As I kept hearing the
uninterrupted jingle of your anklet
Even at a distance of hundred
light-years ,
My little grandson muttered
from behind ,
‘Grandpa, how nice the cricket
does buzz , doesn’t it !‘
(20)
Let someone break into my
unhurt hive
Don’t worry ,I
won’t sting .
(21)
I lay in total fast for you .
You didn’t arrive - I suffer
acidity instead .
(22)
Sky-blue sari with grass-green
border ,
Cloud-dark hair
, crimson vermilion , pomegranate lips-
Well , borrowed or stolen
!
(23)
Why abuse me angrily , even my father ?
Do you mean none should love you !
(24)
Your lips grew aggressive like
a bow ,
emoted as I offered my
cheek ,
You slapped .
(25)
Whenever you come to me embracing , I prevent .
But how can I convince that I
want only you -none else !
(26)
Why shed tears in the ocean !
How then could I get measure
of its salinity ?
(27)
Even the police shuddered at
the
Butchered corpse of the
wretched girl
Poor killer !
is this all wrath for
Not getting a clue to her heart ?
(28)
All along I chased you only to
reach your heart .
All I achieved is detention in
the lock-up;
Alas ! Your heart remains
elusive as ever!
(29)
I kept staring all the while
Lest you come and leave
between winks-
I had vour
view at last
When I can see no
more.
(30)
The sky above is smeared with
moonlight
Your moony face clings to my chest ;
Yet as if my drying up palate
thirsts for a little moonlight.
(31)
Just as I sprang a kiss on you ,
We got smeared with blood .
But where is it from - your
lip or my heart ?
(32)
I made you into a mummy
Only to protect you from the
lust of time ;
But the judge condemned me to
death by hanging.
(33)
Whenever I ruled like emperor ,
You resisted like empress .
But as I acted a slave ,
And to !
You took no time to serve like a temple-girl .
(34)
I couldn’t swim
. In neck-deep water ,
You assured ,
You would see me safe
At the cost of your life ,
But the water reaching the
nose-level ,
How you struggled to rid safe
of me !
(35)
I ‘ accused
of unmindfulness .
But how can I explain that I
appear so
Only because I’m intent ?
(36)
What those millions of stars
could do me with
If I miss my lighthouse use in
your pupils ?
(37)
I’m in love with a La Belle
Dame Sans Merci
I understand
, bad time is in store for me .
(38)
You are before my eyes ,
Formless , you are in my mind
too .
Whom do I keep or leave ?
(39)
I don’t have much faith on
cloud as messenger
Might pour down somewhere
before reaching you .
(40)
Buried , you grew as young
plant ,
Burnt , returned as
perfume ,
Floated , ruined me as flood
at last .
(41)
A world of things like human
the flora .
The insects dwell in me .
Well , expect only myself
.
(42)
Custom refrains me from drinking .
When everything around reels
under alcoholic moonlight ,
I thrust my head into pious , dark sands like a camel .
(43)
The string of the sitar gave
way
The moment Raga Ashabari assumed its form .
Down in the auditorium
,
Did my artery too split somewhere ?
Otherwise why should my chest smoulder !
(44)
Only poets can read the
message
Of seuli
flower or that of firefly .
Yet When autumnal breeze blows ,
My heart’s honeycomb stirs up
With seuli’s smell and firefly’s illumination.
(45)
My mind got drenched all over
in continuous showers .
There’s no space around to
hang out.
(46)
The chattering dove with its
neck extended
Moves to and fro like a wheel ,
In a mood sure
! But then , whom to fly
As the symbol of peace ?
(47)
Why is the mind’s furze
suddenly so quiet,so still !
Not even a sprout of grass
does move !
(48)
Why is music so full of ado
and noise ?
Is it because the God of music
remains elusive as ever ?
(49)
With leaves withering
, wind blowing and doves cooing tragic note .
It seems a disaster is a foot
Even if it is so , nothing to worry ,
Things shall reappear as usual .
(50)
While lulling
, mummy used to sing
‘Dhana
dhanye pushpe bhora ,
Amader ei basundhara’
(Filled is this earth of ours
With wealth ,
corn and flowers) .
- I wake up to see my mummy nowhere ,
That earth too disappear and
Only an angry volcano I am
lying on .
(51)
I dreamt scores of leeches
sucking blood from my body .
I awoke to my wife’s reproach , son’s demands ,
Daughter’s caprice
.
(52)
Gave up animal
slaughter to avoid bloodshed.
As I plucked the green papaya ,
the stalk started
oozing out white blood .
(53)
In sickbed I was terribly
scared of dying .
On recovery I felt I had
better died
Rather than die down afraid .
(54)
Don’t remove the honeybee from
the cup of flower ,
Worked up ,
it will sting like a fighter wasp .
(55)
So far away I am from my childhood .
Still now ,
I remember my late papa every time I hear
The late-night
prayer from mosque.
(56)
The grasflower
surprises me .
long back along with
our homestead it was left behind .
strange how it retrieved
the address of my garden here !
However , if it doesn’t
wither away itself tomorrow morn ,
The fool doesn’t know
We are busy pushing back infiltrators .
(57)
However much I sweep the lawn ,
The rubbish surge back for the
Opposite wind to stuff it up
every time .
When it came to my notice ,
I was too old to start anew .
(58)
Why suffer a false feeling of loneliness !
May be none is around but then
don’t you feel
The warmth of countless lives
in the green
Underneath your feet ?
(59)
Mango-tree spills its glee all
over
For its sprouting mango-buds .
Seems can’t foresee
, one day they will make
Leaves shattered
, branches broken
and the stem smothered
with pelting of stones .
(60)
Does God know names of each of
us ?
The mother-fish might call troutlings by different names
But we know them by species only .
(61)
Devotees shouted hurrah in joy
Even as the taut
, baaing neck was served
With the stroke of a sword .
But which would reach God earlier ,
This scream or that triumphant
outcry !
(62)
In my childhood
, papa walked me
By holding my hand lest I
might get missing .
That habit of sinking now and
then
Persists with me even today
(63)
You had been obsessively
thrifty
So that you could comportably relish at leisure .
What a pity !
Just now you have developed
Pressure,sugar,dyspepsia and all that .
(64)
What a poor world our
ancestors lived in !
For , there was no ‘Rabindra Song’ then .
(65)
In the solitary moors I had
walked like a colossus ,
Just as I stepped on the city-road ,
I got reduced to a pygmy.
(66)
The gravy makes my mouth water
While the goats water my eyes .
(67)
I feel he is around but never
get him .
The Supreme Being
, I know , exist just beyond
That mountain range of bodily
pleasures
Strange , higher I leap , taller
still gets the mountain !
(68)
Hours I idled away and now
Sat to work at the close of
the day .
But it’s now all mauve in the
evening sky
Wonder , what will happen
to me now !
(69)
Used to play out time with dreams .
Those dreams are no more ,
and the time stands
still like obstinate horse .
(70)
The bald branch sprouts fresh leaves ,
Oh God !
Pray make me too bald at times
I wish I sprouted myself anew .
(71)
I keep salivating within the
shell
The silk-girdle shall flash
out at your waist
The day I get out of the cocoon .
But what about me then ?
(72)
Why do they spread false scare !
Who would you talk to if I’m
no more ?
So i
was , I am ,I hang on .
(73)
The very night I entered my
luxury-house ,
Break of monsoon took place .
But the mmory
of your jingling sound
Over the cracked roof of my
old house
Kept me sleepless whole night .
(74)
None cared as I stood by .
But the entire woodland bowed
to you
As you mightily splashed in ....
And I blushed
.
(75)
As the spider made away with
the tiny worm ,
A house-lizard gulped the
spider down .
Is it now the lizard’s turn !
(76)
Why do the fools sweat to
search him out
Who arrives at calls or stays
even unwanted ?
(77)
If the ocean is so full of water ,
Why did you provide me with
such a small pot?
(78)
The police beat me up even
though I was innocent .
That was the beginning
Now I’m a strong adversary to
the state machinery .
(79)
Who can get the measure of
that Inconceivable !
It’s better to put him within
the Holy Black Stone (salagram)
And stay indoors instead .
(80)
Had been to your shop
To buy great pleasure at cheap
price .
Instead you palmed off
Unendurably severe pains at a
high cost .
(81)
Look how proud the stalks of
Tuberoses in the flower-vase are !
But the boast shall disappear
If only the water is not
changed a single day .
(82)
A child-birth
! we say it’s gift of God ,
A death ?
It’s again God’s doing ,
But he neither admits nor
denies
Is He dumb !
(83)
The earthen pitcher sweats
profusely
In this terribly hot summer .
But surely preserves cold
water
For us in endless affection .
(84)
The entrails of thedressed chicken
Was eaten up by the vagabond cow .
Anxious , If milk remains
white thereafter .
(85)
Orphaned since childhood ,
Didn’t quit know motherly love .
Cold wind blowing suddenly ,
Friend said ,”You
certainly know it now , don’t you ?”
(86)
Sun rises in the east , sets in the west .
Pole-star shows the north and
Vernal breeze blows from the
south
Do I need to attend geography
class any more !
(87)
The confused ball was
pathetically
Tossed from leg to leg all the
time .
Just as the striker got at
with his head ,
It proudly dived into the net .
(88)
It was only when load-shedding
set in
That I got to know the light
had been on
(89)
I was asked to speak out my
last wish .
I urged ,
‘Take me to a village only once ,
I would like to hear jackals
how I.’
(90)
The moment I got the smell of
mud,
The whole childhood danced in
my conciousness
Wonder , where within smell
does the album keep lurking !
(91)
Places of pilgrimage are
generally
Thick with antisocial
,
Why not !
hospitals are meant for patients .
(92)
Bought in tinned fish from
bazaar
To add variety to taste . But the first bite
Made me start
: Ha , the poor thing must have had
Sported freely in the mossy
nooks and corners of
Blue waters of the Baltic .
(93)
They respect me for my love
for God .
But if proved that God is in
fact a feminine being ,
Would they not render me outcast ?
(94)
No sooner had I uttered ‘life
and death problem ’ , I tumbled ,
For , life itself is the
problem - death is its solution .
(95)
I fancied I would be gossiped about ,
scandalized , defamed by neighbours
Seems none cared about . Braving rivers
And scaling mountains to reach
you
And make love secretly were fruitless .
(96)
Clear sky ,
snow-white moonlight , a gentle gale ,
Sweet aroma of evening-seuli flower
Ah , if at this moment
someone could
Tell me a piece of inscrutable
poem !
(97)
The doctor took my pulse and
declared me dead .
But believe me
, I was alive then
And so am I now
.
(98)
Friends and foes
, men and women , cows and goats ,
Tree and plants - all appear
so pleasant !
But a single heart is hardly
adequate
For this great feeling :
Can’t a few more be borrowed ?
(99)
Past dogs me as I presently
live in comport ,
But can’t help
, fortune is always teased
By nightmarish past .
(100)
So far I propelled my boat
myself
Over the vast deep waters
Pray , now take me across
this difficult knee-deep water .