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
Sonjoy Dutta-Roy, Professor, Department of English, University of Allahabad, has published three volumes of Poetry. The Absent Words was published by Writers Workshop Kolkata in 1998, followed by Into Grander Space again from Writers Workshop in 2005, followed by Diary Poems and Story Tellers Rhymes by Author House Bloomington, USA in 2012. He is involved with Theatre and has Directed several plays and acted in many including Karnad’s Hayavadana, Elkunchwar’s Autobiography, Mohan Rakesh’s One Day in Aashad and Aadhe Adhure, Tagore’s Dak Ghar and Dattani’s Tara, among many others.
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