Here’s a third part of the folk songs of Bengal, by Prof Sonjoy, exclusively for Different Truths.
O you have kept me long afloat
O you have flooded my frail little boat
Your endless waters, a constant quest
The sailor can find no shore to rest
No shore, no landing,
No stay for my oars
Your endless waters
Have no known shores
My battered yacht in wayward drift
Waits for your breeze, its masterly lift
Of my tattered sail, steady and swift.
In your care have I trusted my canoe
With unwavering faith I know
You will pull my frail boat through
Though troubled waters lash
And drench me to my bones
Through and through.
Poet’s Note: These poems are my imaginary flights on some baul and bhatiali lilts popular in Bengal, and now, thanks to coke studio, sensationalised internationally. Some of you might recognise these lilts. They are not translations, but subjective take off points at this juncture of my life.
Photo from the Internet
Prof Sonjoy Dutta Roy retired as Professor/Head, Department of English, Dean of Arts, and Coordinator of Centres for Theatre/Films and Media Studies at the University of Allahabad. Senior Fulbright Visiting Professor at UC Berkeley, Fellow at Louisiana State University, and UGC Visiting Fellow at Jadavpur University. His papers on theatre/poetry featured in leading journals. Over three decades, he directed Indian/American plays and lectured at UC Berkeley, UConn, Tufts, and more. Poetry collections: The Absent Words (1998), Into Grander Space (2005), Diary Poems (2012), and the forthcoming Of Blood and Book. Poems shortlisted by the British Council, the Poetry Society of India, Chandrabhaga, and Kavya Bharti. He is our National Editor: Academics.
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