My night ends..

 আমার রাত পোহালো শারদ প্রাতে

(Amar rat pohalo) 

My night.. ends here.. with the autumn day..

Flute of mine.. who.. shall be the one.. to have you..

You had so many songs.. to sing..

Goodbyes.. and welcoming melodies..

In the rains.. and in the spring night.. and day..

So many secrets.. from my heart..

You stole away from me with your songs.. from my heart..

Time.. to say goodbye.. is nearly here..

like a star.. that melts in the sky..

Say.. goodbye.. to all things dear..

as blossoms.. fade away..

We tumbled out at dawn

আজ প্রথম ফুলের পাব প্রসাদখানি

Aj prothom phuler pabo proshadkhani (audio: Debabrata Biswas)

We tumbled out at dawn

To watch raw buds 

Crack open to the sun,

To catch up with the voice of light.

Now that radiance 

Performed it's miracle,

We sing and daub ourselves

In savory sunshine

Nature invites us

Under thickets of Parul,

Shady branches of Magnolia. 

The deepest blue sky 

Expands in us,
Echos music within,

Releasing all our fetters

Autumn radiance blossoms

শরত-আলোর কমলবনে
Shoroto alor kamolo bone (audio)

Autumn radiance
Blossoms like a precious lotus-pond,
Indulging my muse
Out of my heart

Sunshine, twinkling, aureate,
Echos the clink of her armlets,
Jittery shadows
Are possessed by her veil
Heaving in the wind

Her fragrance, meditative,
Hovers below the Shiuli

Contained within
She is captivating
Expressed outside
She is exquisite

Today, more than ever,
Her purest gaze
Reflects in the royal blue sky

An autumn night on the brink

আমার  রাত পোহালো শারদ প্রাতে
Amar raat pohalo shaarodo praate (audio: Debabrata Biswas)

An autumn night on the brink,
As dawn encroaches
As I ponder
Whom to leave you with, my flute

Your heart exuded songs--
Farewell blues,
Homecoming majesties,
Seasonal vibes of spring, monsoon
Transported tunes of darkness, dawn.

I am riddled as to
How you stole my secret whispers
Each deep echo of my heart,
Melodies that will perish soon
Like ebbing stars of sunrise

So let them die
Our rampant symphony,
Like ephemeral buds of Shiuli

Madness of monsoon in autumn

কোন্ খেপা শ্রাবণ ছুটে এল আশ্বিনেরই আঙিনায়
Kon khyapa srabon chhutey elo

The madness of a monsoon storms
Into the courtyard of autumn
He rushes in locks all astray
Matted into clouds dark and gray
A song of maddened breeze he sings

A thrill runs through the fields
Dancing in delight to the tunes
Of Raag Chhayanaut
The golden rays of autumn sun
Recede in listless languor

What words did he come to whisper
To plentiful fields of paddy
A wail of which intense anguish
Emanates from the new harvest

Restless is the beclouded sky
Spreading its wings like Garuda
A lost wayfarer from the skies
Brings to earth a sense of the road

As the autumn sun caresses my dreams

আজি শরততপনে প্রভাতস্বপনে
Aaji shorot topone probhat swapone

As the autumn sun caresses my dreams
I wish I knew what my heart wants
On fragrant boughs of the Shefali tree
What do telltale birds tattle on?

Distracted today is this heart of mine
In a breeze so soft and soothing
Refusing to remain within four walls
In hot pursuit of which fragrance
In hope of sighting which flower
It races to which far beyond

Someone there is amiss today
And so my life, it seems in vain
In askance my heart looks around
“It is not her”, crying aloud
In which land of dreams does she dwell
Her lustrous tresses aflutter
In Eden of which heavenly abode
Maybe she weeps because of me
Seared by pangs of separation

If I do wreathe a song
Sing for whom this lyric?
If I do wreathe some flowers
Give to whom this garland?
If I were to offer my life
At whose feet surrender?
Forever a fear lurks within
In my callous carelessness lest
Aches a heart hurting in private

Luminescence flowers

আলোর অমল কমলখানি 
Alor amolo kamolokhani (audio: Debabrata Biswas)

Luminescence flowers
Like a limpid lotus,
Enlivening a blue sky.
I am charged with
The wonder of it.

In tantamount mystery
My thoughts 
Swarm like honeybees
Setting out
To touch the radiant blossom

I listen to an autumn melody
Vibrate 
In the lotus-pond,
A tuneful Lalit
Weep underneath the Shiuli

A breeze, bewitched
With the same drunkenness
Roves through rice meadows,
Glistening with green luxuriance

A passionate whisper
Hums in the forest.
Riddling me with its sensation

Blossoms of Shiuli

শিউলি ফুল, শিউলি ফুল
Shiuli phul, Shiuli phul (audio)

Blossom of Shiuli,  
My beloved blossom,
What an oversight 
Was this on your part?
Oh, what illusion did the night breeze
Have in mind, to nestle you gently
At the foot of arbor-shades?
Yet ever so often
You die to return at the strike of dawn;
Why do you pine, my unmindful love?
Dew glistens in your eyes.
Is this your way of bidding goodbye,
Is this what your fragrance suggests?
Oh, with you, every passing moment,
Bokul blossoms too, flock to part.

Autumn, your gift of sunshine

শরৎ তোমার অরুণ আলোর অঞ্জলি
Shorot tomar orun alor onjoli (audio)

Autumn, your gift of sunshine
Overflows your hands
Joined in auspicious offering,
Floods creation

Autumn, your tresses 
Wet with dew,
Your veil, brushing trees,
Bewitch the dawn.

Jewels of dew etched in your armlet
Glisten with green

Shadows of the forest speak
In hums, whispers
Flapping scarfs in their sonorous dance

Thrilled enchantment

Descends upon the Shiuli.

All night I had rested

সারা নিশি ছিলেম শুয়ে 
Shara nishi chhilem shuye

All night I had rested
On solitary earth
Next to my beloved wild flowers,
Eagerly listening to the music
Of the stars. But at dawn,
When the stars were lost
I was overwhelmed to find
The same melody overflowing
From the dew, the flowers' tearful faces.

How long have I looked
For this tune in princely chambers,
To have found it at last
On the humble soil of earth!

This melody came to me
As the eloquence of light
Wafting down from the sky
Into the green grass.
This music sparkles like laughter
Twinkling from jewels of dew
Nestled lovingly in the earth.

You come to bless my eyes..

আমার নয়ন-ভুলানো এলে
Amar noyono-bhulano ele 

You come to bless my eyes..
Beauty my heart.. just found!
Near the Shiuli trees.. divine..
blossoms tossed on dewy grass..
your steps.. colored with morning sun..
you have come to bless.. my eyes..

A veil made of sun.. and shade..
floats and falls on forest..beds..
Flowers.. gazing at your face..
whisper among themselves.

We welcome.. you here.. encore..
raise the flutter at your door..
a thin white veil of autumn clouds..
as you come to bless.. my eyes..

We can hear your welcome.. song..
our Forest Mother.. sings for you.
The sky.. brings with its lute
symphonies to match.. a tune..

Do I hear your golden.. bells?
that would be my deepest heart..
Take me over all my house..
Melt the harshness .. with flowing joy..
as you come.. to bless my eyes..

(translation by Ananda)


(another version by Rumela)

Enchanting my eyes you come..

What is this I sight, laying bare my heart..

Beside the bursting trees of Shiuli..

Through the troves of falling flowers..

Your feet kissed by the crimson sun..

Trace their way in dew.. drenched grass..

Enchanting my eyes.. you come..

A veil of light and shade..

Falls gently over the forests..

What is it they say in their heart..

The flowers gazing at your face..

We offer you a ceremonial welcome..

Do take off the veil from your face..

Remove that weave of cloud and haze..

The deep sound of conches.. echo..

At the doors of woodland nymphs..

A welcome song resounds across

The strings of the sky-lute..

I hear a trill of golden anklet bells..

Where? Maybe within my heart..

You come flooding sweetness..

In every thought, in every chore..

A sweetness melting even stone..

You come in a deluge of bliss..

Enchanting my eyes.. you come..

Today in lush paddy fields

আজ ধানের ক্ষেতে রৌদ্রছায়ায়

aaj dhaner khete (audio)

Today in lush paddy fields
Play sun and shade
Oh! A game of hide and seek
Who set sail rafts of white clouds
In the blue azure
Oh! A game of hide and seek

The bumble bee forgets to sip nectar today
Drunk with light it rambles around

A conference of birds galore
Sits on the riverfront
Who knows why

I will not go home today
Breaking into and beyond blue skies
I will plunder all today

Riding on the waves of tide
As if like foam
Gallops laughter astride the wind

In no work, rhyme or reason
The day will pass by
In sweet melody of the flute

Who.. let blossom..

আলোর অমল কমলখানি

(alor amal kamall khani)

Who.. let blossom..
                       The lotus.. of light..
Stirring the blue.. sky.. into sleeplessness..
And lured.. my winged thoughts..
                                  On this radiant.. path..
Autumn's message..
       Plays like a lute.. on the lotus..
Lalit tunes.. trickle down
                          Shiuli trees.
The wind.. frolics..
         In young green shoots.. of paddy..
Who.. is it that stirs up the forests..
           Filling their hearts.. with secret murmurs..

You manifested in my heart..

হৃদয়ে ছিলে জেগে

hridoye chhile jege dekhi aj shoroto meghe

You manifested in my heart..
Today .. I find you 
flow into the opalescent clouds of autumn.

How did your veil unfold
This dawn ..
with a sparkle of dew.

In the aftermath ..
I wonder what to sing..
I ponder what it is I have come to say..

My melodies flutter ..
Scatter beneath the trees..
Like Shiuli buds..
My words fragrantly disperse in the wind..
Like impetuous rains.


*Shiuli is a white fragrant flower of the Bengali autumnal season.

Ivory sails pushed

অমল ধবল পালে লেগেছে

amalo dhabolo paale legechhe / omolo dhobolo (audio: Hemanta Mukhopadhyay & Ranu Mukherjee)

Ivory sails pushed
by a slow, sweet breathe
an epiphany to my heart.

From which distant sea
do the riches arrive?
I long to float with them,
to leave my haves and wants
on this familiar shore.

In the backdrop there was
endless rain and thunder.
Sunshine now sifts through clouds
and kisses my face.

What precious love
unknown as he may be
has heaped his wealth
of smiles and tears on the boat?

I wonder
what music to make
what mantra to chant.