Reading Time: 3 minutes
Prof. Sonjoy’s poem is woven around two famous Bengali Rabindrasangeet, as songs by Tagore are known. It’s his personal homage to the Bard on his 160th birth anniversary. A Special Feature, exclusively for Different Truths.
This poem pays tribute to two songs of Tagore that have fascinated me for two reasons. I have loved the music and the tunes and I have been intrigued by the underlying philosophy. It is neither a translation or trans-creation. It is a totally personal diary poem where I have felt a metaphysical connection with the lyrics. The songs are, 1) “Tai tomaar anando amaar por tumi tai eshecho neeche” and 2) “Aami bohu bashonae pran pane chai bonchito kore bachaale more.”
This poem pays tribute to two songs of Tagore that have fascinated me for two reasons. I have loved the music and the tunes and I have been intrigued by the underlying philosophy. It is neither a translation or trans-creation. It is a totally personal diary poem where I have felt a metaphysical connection with the lyrics.
The poet’s 160th birth anniversary, I feel, is the right occasion to pay my tribute to this connection that has haunted me for a long long time. For those who are familiar with the two songs, the poem will bring sparks of recognition. For those who are alienated by language, the poem will speak for itself and stand on its own. It will also give insight into a romantically mysterious Tagore, who always existed close to my heart.
We write with tradition there inside us in “book” and “blood”, tradition acquired through learning and that received through inheritance. Tagore exists in both these dimensions for me. No better time to celebrate this than on this occasion and no better place than this space provided by Different Truths.
We write with tradition there inside us in “book” and “blood”, tradition acquired through learning and that received through inheritance. Tagore exists in both these dimensions for me.
On this same day, ten years ago, I had directed Tagore’s Dak Ghar for Bengali Social and Cultural Association and Swarabitan Music Society.
Your Play of Passion
Your play of passion has to be through me
Thus you have descended
Without me, o my beloved
Your Love would have in futility ended
Through me you have spread your carnival of delights
Within my heart, dance your festivals of lights
Within me your desires vibrate
In a million forms sensate insensate.
You kissed my lips as a petal’s soft dew
Tousled my hair in your storm, passions grew,
As a beloved you came in delectable forms
Reflected your Love in me, and withdrew.
So why is it that in the games that you play
Always out of reach you stay,
Just minutely, subtly, fractionally away.
With inflamed desires you kept me enslaved
Then left deprived, by you I am saved.
This, your cruel mercy, I have gleaned over years
Without asking, you have given so much
Passion, laughter, ecstasy, tears.
You tempt me to seek your pleasures
But cruel you, you subtly hide your treasures
This, I know, is your test, your mercy
To perfect me, to make me worthy
Layers of half desires, imperfect embraces,
Through unkind cuts you chisel away
O supreme potter, your outer hands hit hard
While inner palms in deep support
Always and constantly stay
To shape me for the ultimate end,
Where with open arms you wait for me,
Where all roads meet, at t he final bend.
Digital painting -Tagore
The poem is so touching and a sigh of relief in such critical times which has a different context altogether, expressing love and emotions. I totally connect with the poem which is so soothing to read as if though we are stuck in our own small prison but we find ourselves floating to, for and with love.
It is in longing for the unattainable that we attain fulfilment. This bittersweet truth of life is unforgettably expressed by the poem. For readers like me, who are unfamiliar with the original language of Tagore’s composition, this translation, or rather trans-creation, is a precious gift.
Thank you Reena, Shruti. I wrote this as a kind of diary poem that was a meditation on the lyrics and philosophy of two of my favourite songs of Tagore. Feel good that I could reach out through the poem.