Nov 30, 2009

Whoever spread the colors in the forest

কে রঙ লাগালে বনে বনে
ke rong lagale bone bone

Whoever spread the colors in the forest
Undulating the air in rhythm!
All gateways of earth are free
Swaying trees responding to the waves
Of an eternal craziness at play everywhere

As the impassioned music pour forth
Won't you bring your flute
Bearing the strains of farewell tears and laughter
Into the spring breeze?

Such heartbreaking melody of an evening sky
Will fill the parting night with sweetness
A sea of twilight-glow
Reveling in the deluge of music

Nov 29, 2009

Awaiting me you are

দাঁড়িয়ে আছ তুমি আমার
dnariye aachho tumi
(audio)

Awaiting me you are, on the shore of my song
My music and lyric find place at your altar
Yet you remain beyond my reach

Softly wafts the breeze, swaying me with it
Linger no more, untie your boat, and set afloat
Come into my heart, crossing over to this shore

This playing with you through song, is but from afar
Dawn to dusk, this flute plays on, revealing my ache

O when will you come yourself, and play on my flute
In silent secluded blissful darkness of night

A cascade of joy is flowing

আনন্দধারা বহিছে ভুবনে
anondo dhara bohichhey bhuboney
(audio)

A cascade of joy flows through this world and beyond
Night and day, ambrosia spills forth from heavens above

The sun and the moon drink up the sweet nectar in fistfuls
Ever luminous is their inextinguishable glow
Ever bountiful is this earth with life and light

Why are you lost in your own thoughts
Why absorbed with self-centred goals
Look around you
Open up your heart
Value little, this trifling pain of yours
Let love permeate the void in your life

Every task you let me shoulder

তুমি যত ভার দিয়েছ সে ভার
tumi joto bhar diyecho she bhar

Every task you let me shoulder
have given me the grace to bear
employment that I have chosen
add to my burden's share.

Let me off this excess luggage
Staggering path of mighty loads.
Spare me the stormy journey,
soothe my plight on endless roads.

Suffering that I invited
have given me no respite.
Wounds just turned to ashes,
fruitless pain to thunderbolts.

Your sorrow is my soothing shower
makes me rich with fruits of pain.
Floods me with spates of fruition,
offers riches to relive.

Everything which I invited
grow in heaps and brought to bay
thankless in claims and wages
all demand that I repay.

Let me off this frightful luggage
staggering path of mighty loads.
Spare me the joyless journey
sooth my plight on endless roads.

Nov 26, 2009

You made me embrace countless strangers

কত অজানারে জানাইলে তুমি
kawto awjanare janaile tumi (audio)
(audio - Suchitra)

(link to Tagore's own translation)

You made me embrace
countless strangers,
gained me new homes,
connected me with the far,
united me with the unseen.

When I travel, I am shaky of my road.
But however the new turns out
I forget your ancient presence.

In life through death,
every recess of the world
you be my lead, timeless ally.

Once I have known you
fear is released, limits crumble,
the other becomes me.

You flourish in everything,
be mine to see forever.



(another version by Rumela Sengupta)

You made known many an unknown
A refuge You gave in many a home
You brought close, my friend, afar who was
Linking me in a fraternity with the ones who were not my own

When I leave the comfort of home
I wonder with trepidation
What may or may not be
Amidst the new, my known You are
Time and again, how I forget

In life, in death, in this whole world
Whenever wherever You take me
You, my ever familiar friend
Will acquaint me with all

Knowing You, stranger there is none
There are no bars, there is no fear
Embracing each and every one
May I sight Your awakening

Nov 23, 2009

My life meets its fruition

সার্থক জনম আমার
sharthok jawnom amar jonmechhi ei deshe

My life meets its fruition
My motherland,
In having born to your soil
Fulfilled so am I
In having loved you

What do I care
That you are not wealthy like a queen
This I only know
That my limbs are replenished
When I take shelter in your soothing shades

Where could I find
The sweet fragrance of your flowers
Such that offers exquisite bliss?
Where could I gaze at such moonlight
That would stroke my soul like a gentle smile?

From your heavens streamed down
The first rays of the sun
I witnessed in birth
The same light will put me to rest
When I depart.

You left my eyesight

নয়ন ছেড়ে গেলে চলে
noyon chhere gele chole (audio: Debabrata Biswas)

You left my eyesight.
became all my presence.
If I lose you perhaps
you are not lost.

Nights together, when they end
You remain, true friend.
You do not end, you do not end.
You make my dream.

Your love is elixir,
quite unseen.
Fills up my ears with songs.
Eyes fill with tears. 

Madhobi, the young spring flower

My heart is secured

Nov 22, 2009

Entwine me in tasks

আমায় বাঁধবে যদি কাজের ডোরে
aamaay bandhbe jodi kaajer dorey

If you will entwine me in tasks
Why do you then distract me thus

Why does the wind waft in
Bearing secret tidings
From a distant beyond
Pervading my being

The flecks of gold tinging the sky
How they dance into my bloodstream

Now and again
Who is it you send
To sing at my casement
And steal my heart away

- 7th April 1914

Not just with words, my friend

শুধু তোমার বাণী নয় গো
shudhu tomaar baani noy go bondhu
(audio)

Not just with words, my friend and beloved
At times, do bless my soul with your caress
This fatigue of way, this craving within
I know not how to satiate this thirst
Tell me O do tell me
This darkness is suffused with your being

This heart of mine wants to give, not just to receive
Trudges along burdened with all it has amassed

Reach out your hand, place them in mine
I will clasp it with all my might
Holding close your touch so precious
I will make pleasing this solitary journey of mine

Where does this road end

পথের শেষ কোথায়
pother shesh kothay

Where does this road end,
Where is the end
What is there at the end?
So much desire, such untiring quest,
Where does it melt and fade away

Waves of tears rise and ebb
Dense darkness looms ahead
Shore there is for sure, I know
Where, in which land, I do not know

Today I pause to ponder
As I run after a mirage in vain
Unquenchable is this thirst I fear
Rudderless is my boat, torn are it’s sails
Yet rows on my sorrow, to a destination unknown


Another translation meant for English rendition, by Anandamayee Majumdar

Long way!
Where does this all end?

So much desire and crave
What next?
Where does it all end?

Waves of tears leap
Darkness ahead of me
How could I
meet shore at sea?
Where could I
be free?
Where does it all cease?
Long way!

As I look inwardly
Mirages cry out at me. Ah!
The craze does not seem to cease!
Deep sense of unease.

My pain, a broken ship
Lost in the sea, aimless.
Where does this all end?
Long way!





Nov 18, 2009

Everything I have and reap

আমার যে সব দিতে হবে
amar je shob ditey hobey (audio)

Everything I have and reap
songs and wealth I may keep
what I see and what I hear
all my labor, fruits I bear
every service old and new
I shall make my gifts to you.

My dawn and dusk shall birth unseen
in the heart's own garden green
with joy and newness they shall shine
and be your presents, my divine.

To tune the lute-strings now I learn
you shall teach me, in my turn
music which fits your way

with your music then in play.

Your pleasure fills my cup of life
calls to happiness and to strife.
These gifts you have offered me
forever yours that they shall be.


Everything I have received
blessed in life which I have lived
offer me a glory true
when I gift them back to you.


another version by Debashis Goswami

I must give forth all I possess
Forever it's known to me
All my treasures, all my lyrics
Let it be yours, let it be...

What I behold, what I hear
Pathways that I wander
With the nimble hands of mine
Services I can render
Let it be yours, let it be yours....

From the budding core of my heart
Days and nughts bloom
Open up to your loving eyes
You let them plume

I merely hold the lyre
Tuning its strings
You let it voice your song
Whenever it sings

In the light and dark of life
Mingle your joy
In me you live your dreams
Bliss you enjoy

Make me worthy of it all
Gifts you gave me
Let my life flow into you
Be it yours, let it be


(Another version meant to be sung in English, inspired by Debashis Goswami's version, transcreated by Anandamayee)

Got to give all I have,
I know well the prophecy;
Treasures, words, songs and prayers
Yours ever, let it be

Everything I gaze upon
Every care I render
All my ears hear and hold,
Roads, I surrender

From my bud, from my heart
Days and nights unfold
blossoming beneath your gaze
Secretly cajoled

Instrument's in my hands
Tuned to be played
When it's ripe, let it sing
Music you have made

All my darkness all my light 
Mingle with my soul 
you live your dream in my life
When I lived in whole

Gifts I found, my energy
I gracefully surrender
Life, let it overflow
Make it your splendour

Nov 17, 2009

As an unknown wanderer walks along the road

পথ দিয়ে কে যায় গো চলে
pawth diye ke jay go choley

As an unknown wanderer
Walks along the road
Her silent call
Urges me to tread the path
Forcing me out
Of my own retreat.
I do not know
These songs that resound in the air
But in my heart and in my pain
They reverberate and come alive.
A night of the full moon
Summons the ocean
Motions the waves
And rocks the heart.
And now that doubts are gone
Why and for whom should I wait?

 (another version by Rumela Sengupta)

Who is it that goes by the road
Calling out to me as he goes
How do I now remain indoors

What is this melody blowing in the wind
It resonates within my bosom
It plays on my deepest ache

Waves rush forth from the seas
In this night of the full moon
I feel that pull within my soul
Lost in thought I gaze on
Nothing there is to hold me back

I lose you ever so often

তোমায় নতুন করে পাব বলে
tomay notun kore pabo bole (audio: Bikram Singh)

I lose you ever so often
only to re-discover you, my precious.
You disappear to let me seek
and see you again.

You are not a stranger, my dear.
You have always been there.
Your eclipse is a fleeting whim
of your passing game.

When I am bent on my quest
My mind quivers with fear
And my love is swayed adrift.

Is it because you are endless
that you pass of as empty
and refresh my smile
with tears of longing!


Another version by Rumela Sengupta:

To discover you anew
I lose you now and again
O my love most precious

You become out of sight
To let me seek you out
O my love most precious

Screened you are not from me
Mine you have been for ages
In this play of hide-n-seek
You are lost but for a moment

When I seek you far and near
Aquiver my heart in fear
Billows my love in waves

Endless you are
In nothingness therefore
you let yourself perish
That smile of yours is lost on me
As tears well up in my eyes
With this harsh separation
O my love most precious

Go on, go on, go forward do I

চলি গো চলি গো
Choli go choli go (audio: Sasha Ghoshal)

What a way to venture on,
Beneath the gaze of starry shine
Playing the tunes of the path, 
Flaunting the smile of the trail,
Running up against the world,
Brandishing every hue we can!

The earth, an endless voyager
Loves the soul of the dreaming tramp
And so, she spurs us on our way
With a quaint, queer, compulsive song.

As we shimmer on and on,
The road unfolds, seasons launch
In grandiose glory and tenderness.
Each footfall, becomes a win
A godly dare to Death, as if,
A challenge met, at every breath.



(Another version by Rumela Sengupta)

Go on, go on, go forward do I
A beacon gleams at the horizon
I go playing the reeds of the road
Sprinkling the gaiety of wayfaring
Waving my colourful scarf on land and water alike

The wandering earth loves wanderers
And so she beckons with a sweet song

Seasons summon with great affection
Leading me to roads yet to be travelled
Every footstep defies death, in every moment

Nov 15, 2009

Games I should play, what and when

কোন্‌ খেলা যে খেলব কখন
kon khela je khelbo kokhon
(audio - Suchitra Mitra & Amjad Ali Khan)

Games I should play, what and when
I sit and think about it
Worry I would not
If only you make me
A part of your own play

A morning kissed with dew
It appears to be your leisurely play
A carnival of clouds
Entreats me to join them and glide away

On the day of reckoning
The day you are merciless in your play
Bells will toll, drumbeats will roar
An army of clouds will darken the skies
The winds will moan out a plaintive refrain

On that day at your beckoning
May worldly fetters fade away
On the tidal waves of doomsday
Unflinching may this spirit sway

Another version by Anandamayee Majumdar

I have countless games to play
I am torn by which to embrace,
Allow me to be your playmate,
And eternally solve my bafflement

The day breaks open with dewy sunshine
Like it is one of your games of recess
An army of clouds sailing in the pure blue
Beg my heart to file along

Some day, you will play with disaster
Some day, the sky will douse in dark,
Some day, clouds will cap my clarity

On that day of terror and doom,
I hope my fetters will fall apart
So I can respond, become a free bird,
So my heart can dance in the storm

Nov 14, 2009

Where in the distant yonder

দূরে কোথায় দূরে দূরে
durey kothay durey durey (audio: Kanika Bandyopadhyay)

Where in the distant yonder
Does this mind of mine wander
In tune with the flute that rings
With the wailing of the winds

The trail that
Going past many a land
Loses sense of direction
On that trail
This famished spirit of mine
Thirsts for a voyage unknown

Nov 13, 2009

The good old days of yore

পুরানো সেই দিনের কথা
purano shei diner kotha

The good old days of yore
How can we forget them
Insights shared
Secrets revealed
Forgotten can never be

Come my friend, come once more
Come into my midst
Talk we will, of things joyous and sad
And let our hearts find sweet relief

In the morn did we pluck flowers
Rock did we to our heart’s delight
The garden alive with our songs

And then separated we got
Where to, we knew not
If ever we see each other again
Come my friend, come once more
Come into my midst

Nov 11, 2009

Rise, fierce heart

জাগো হে রুদ্র জাগো
jago he rudro jago (audio)

Rise, fierce heart.
This dark sleepy mess
burns me out
burns me out.

Knock, knock at the door.
Make her free to go.

Ask me and I shall give
heart, mind and body
pride, wealth and friendship
to you my big monk.

Dawn to dusk I revise

আমার বেলা যে যায় সাঁঝবেলাতে
amar bela je jay (audio)

Dawn to dusk I revise
songs I make, to synchronize.

My music has a single string
fails make tears that songs evoke.
However hard I try to sing
I lose to you all the time.

This single string of mine can most
blend with my closer home.
Yet the flute you tend to play
sounds vast and infinite.

Can anyone simply fit
to chamber music of your kind?
Fishing out countless tunes
from depths of the universe?

Elusive are your paradise-aspirations

না রে, না রে, হবে না তোর স্বর্গসাধন
nare nare hobe na tor shawrgo shadhon

Elusive are your paradise-aspirations
Such are enchanting ploys
Of dreary pleasures

How you contemplated fantasies
Since a long and sultry road was over,
Hoping your tears would now transpire
Into a sunshine-sky

But a restful layover
Beneath the gentle, starlit heavens
Always escapes your fate

Yet again a restless pilgrim
Will urge you onto the pathways,
Your heart will bleed
And open, like a bud
Into an endless prayer of life

Nov 10, 2009

Stand before my eyes

দাঁড়াও আমার আঁখির আগে
dnarao amar ankhiro agey (audio)

Stand before my eyes,
see and touch my heart.

In the skyline and earth
In light unsurpassed 
stand before my eyes
my heart longs for you.

Meet this eager earth
with your sweetness.
Stand on green drapes
in her courtyard.

Flow from everything,
flood from all the earth
spill from every heart.

Stand where the soul
longs for you in silence.

(another version by Rumela Sengupta)

Do appear so my eyes can behold you
That your gaze may alight upon my heart

Amidst the azure and all of creation
In this amazing light, this ardent radiance
Do appear before me

My eye seeks with every blink
My heart yearns in each moment
To be blessed by your visage

Awaits the earth expectantly
Bless it with more beauty
Step upon the carpet of green
That she has laid out for you
Across the dust of her fields

Flooding all that there is
Brimming over this world
Pervading my whole life
Take your place, my Lord
Where my spirit, estranged from you
Stays awake in her loneliness

- 5th June 1904

There comes the storm

ওই বুঝি কালবৈশাখী
oi bujhi kalboishakhi

There comes the storm
As it envelops the evening sky!

What have you to be afraid of
And who have you to fear?
Throw open all gates
And listen
As the resonant thunder
Calls your name

So respond as readily
With your melodies and your songs

Let it shake
The delicate branches
And free the momentary twigs
Frailties shall be shattered
And what's there to stay
Surely will.

A while has passed since you called my name

তুমি ডাক দিয়েছ কোন সকালে
tumi dak diyaecho (audio)

A while has passed since you called my name
but no one heard you.
Now I can not withhold the unseen tears
but no one listens.

I wander with a musing heart
and gaze at the faces I find.
No one evokes tears like you do.

The notes of music sharply rise
and this prisoned world
trembles in agony, in ecstasy,
yet no one knocks at the door.

The sky echos with invisible hurt
and the air carries a nameless letter.
Yet, the roads does not speak
of the untold secret.

My eyes once shed light


chokher aloy dekhechilem
audio: Debabrata Biswas

My eyes once shed light
on the world outside.
As darkness arrives
I turn to my heart.

Sometimes I longed for you
looked up high heaven
and you kept me at bay.
Even then, you found my heart.
But now, I see you inside
clear in your own sunshine.

Sometimes, we just played,
now the playthings are broken
by winds that turned the world.

We had enough of play.
It's time to feel the warmth.
My broken strum is lost,
my heart sings the song.

(Another version by Rumela Sengupta:)

With the sight of my eye
I looked for you outside of me
Inside of me I'll see
When light there is no more

When you elude my embrace
My heart you permeate
Aglow in your own refulgence
Now I gaze at you

You and me, we played in my little playroom
Wrecked by storms, the doll-house is now in ruins

Let it be then, this mere play
Unleash the spirit within
The source of all life-force
Broken be my Veena
I will play on
Strumming on my heartstrings

Nov 9, 2009

Withered leaves of mine

আমার জীর্ণ পাতা যাবার বেলা
amar jeerno pata

Withered leaves of mine
Call upon the new
As they depart.

This is how spring is reborn
In my forests
And how fresh melodies
Spread wings across the sky
And how
My branches fill with young blossoms
In a panoply of colour.

My forever-new
My friend in life,
Stand before me
With your radiant face.
As you summon me to carry on,
So shall I tread my path youthfully.

The last rays of the sun slip past
And my path suddenly halts
Before an ocean's silent gaze.
Then again
Your flute resounds in the darkness
And the once empty space
Is now vibrant
With a galaxy of stars.

Why should I fear the unrevealed?

অচেনাকে ভয় কি আমার ওরে
Awchena ke bhoy ki amar ore (audio: Srikanta Acharya)

Why should I fear the unrevealed?
Life fulls with richness
By embracing strange frontiers

I have long sensed
That I will endlessly unfold secrets,
That nameless forces
Will incite me on unbeaten trails

My mother was once a stranger to me,
She held me to her heart, and I knew.

So is every love a secret,
Before it floods;
It is a faith that softens my heart

Exposed to the mysteries of this world,
My soul breaks into countless tunes.
So I exist, endlessly enamored,
Drunkenly dazed with my unknown life



(Another version by Rumela Sengupta:)

What fear have I of the unknown?
My life will attain fruition
As the unknown becomes the known

I know this knowing of mine will never end
It will pull me to paths less travelled
With an unseen unknown force

Unknown was the mother who took me in her lap
All love is but unknown and thus sways the heart

Amidst the soul of this world unknown,
Sings the heart to many a tune
Unknown in this life of mine,
I wander spellbound in a daze

You are content to gaze at me

তুমি খুশি থাক আমার পানে চেয়ে
tumi khushi thako (audio)

You are content
to gaze at me
as I play and sing about
in your backyard.

You touch me
and I sing.
The joy makes dance
around the world.

You strum my strings
and make them sing
in soft reponse.

I came to love
both your night
and your light.
Your wings of joy
make my smile
fly up high.

Walking along my way


পথে চলে যেতে যেতে
pothe chole jete jete (audio: Debabrata Biswas)

(a translation by Anandamayee for rendition in English)

Walking along my way
Moments light up in surprise 
As you come up, in surprise.

A sensation in a strange fragrance
A secret joy of my essence
A traveler's song, cadence,
And you come up, in surprise.

Sometimes from a dark place
Things fall apart under my feet

I lose sight of direction,
I lose bridges of affection,
Death strikes hard, resonation,
And you come up, in surprise.

(Another version by Rumela Sengupta:)

As I walk along my way
Where, in which moment
I feel your touch
Who knows

In the fragrance of an unknown flower
In a secret bliss deep within
In the song of a passing wayfarer
Where, in which moment
I feel your touch
Who knows

In a sudden blaze of sorrow
When the world quivers and quakes
When I can see the path no longer
When all attachment is torn asunder
And death strikes at my core
I feel your touch yet again
Where, in which moment
Who knows 

Many a time I eavesdrop

আমি কান পেতে রই
aami kaan petey roi (audio)

Many a time I eavesdrop at the distant gates of my own heart
Who is it, that mysterious dweller
The one whose secrets I so wish to hear
Many a time I strive to hear
The story behind the laughter and tears

There it is, the bee wanders from it’s path in quest of a hidden flower
Which bird is it that sings alone at night in a darkness sans friend
Many a time I strive to hear

Who is he to me, who knows
A bit do I glimpse of his glow
A bit more I guess and gauge
Even less do I realise

Oftentimes his missive finds expression in my speech;
His words come to me wrapped in melody of song
Many a time when I listen in quiescence

(Another version by Anandamayee Majumdar)

I hover at the door of my heart
listening to who lives there
to her happiness and her hurt.

Bees raptly seek
a strange blue lotus.
A nameless bird sings 
alone in the dark.

How we belong, I can't be sure.
Sometimes I glimpse her light
sometimes, it’s just a feeling
the rest remains unclear.

Does she speak through me, sometimes?
She sends her messages as songs.


Nov 8, 2009

My heart has found expression

হৃদয় আমার প্রকাশ হল
hridoy amar prokash holo


My heart has found expression in the boundless skies
The wind starting to play on the flute of my grief
This wanderlust of light, know this to be my tale
Alighting upon my heart, driving me to distraction
Far and wide you roam, in many garbs, many forms
Know I not to whom did I then give my garland
Today I see within me, all my garlands adorn you
All did you snatch before letting yourself be found
In total and absolute annihilation

(video link)

Nov 1, 2009

Beyond the edge of life and death


জীবনমরণের সীমানা ছাড়ায়ে
jeebono moroner sheemana chharaye
(audio)

Beyond the edge of life and death
My friend! there you are awaiting
Radiant is your royal throne
In the barren sky of my heart
In what hope
In which intimate ecstasy
Do I gaze thither, reaching out my arms

Silent night having cleansed your feet
Has rolled out it’s dark tresses beneath

What is this song that floods the world
Bursting forth from your divine strings
The cosmos reverberates to its tune
And I lose myself in its deep pathos


( Another version by Anandamayee Majumdar: )


Beyond the verge of life and death
there you stand, my old friend.

The sky is silent in my heart
Your seat, flushed with radiance.
What hidden hope in me

what deepest ecstasy
with which I raise my hands upward?

The silent night spread its curls
with love and honor at your feet.

What a song floods the earth
going down from your strings?
Everything now melts and moves
I am lost to melodies.