Crush the floodgates

ভাঙো বাঁধ ভেঙে দাও 
Bandh bhenge daao (audio)

Crush the floodgates,
Let your suppressed soul fly,
Fly away, lost to the far

Let the parched bay flood
With life, rebellious and buoyant
Sing your tribute aloud,
Hum the applaud of wreckage 

Let the old and withered quit,
Flushed away with the tide

We hear the loud and clear voice
In our hearts that sings, 'Do not fear!'
It is the soul of endless youth

We are not afraid of the new
Even as the gates are sealed,
Let us fiercely proceed to free our entree

Troublesome drifts

উতল হাওয়া লাগল আমার গানের তরণীতে
*Utol hawa laglo amar gaaner toroneete

Troublesome drifts
        turn around the vessel with my music
Swelling, whaling
Tantalizing your restive dance-waves
If the mooring dulls,
          if the rudder slips and falls,
                       if the water leaps and stalls
If a daunting future trifles with our doom
We will not be stunned,
                  we will triumph,
                               we will win over

*An attempt has been made to keep the original measures of the song

A hum of flitting bees

ঘরেতে ভ্রমর এল গুন্‌গুনিয়ে
 Ghorete bhromor elo

A hum of flitting bees bring me a message
From whom, of whom, I solemnly wonder
Stroked by soft sunbeams of a secret sky
Madhobi buds awaken in the arbor,
The bees chant softly to me
Of their magical act of spring-wakening.

How could I stay at home contentedly
When my heart simply wafts away
Counting each moment of trepidation!

What tender spells have they cast over me,
My chores, forgotten, as I lose myself
In webs of lyrical rhapsodies
Reflecting on the one they hum about.

Your secret, it cannot remain within

গোপন কথাটি রবে না গোপনে
Gopono kawthati robe na gopone

Your secret, it cannot remain within
Emerge it will in your eyes so silent
Oh no, remain it cannot a secret.

With the radiance of a smile
It sings through the flute,
It plays on your lips in solitary dreams --
Oh no, remain it can not a secret.

Bees begin to hum,
Eager to sip light, Ashok* blossoms
Flush with sweet melancholy.

The heart is a shivering lotus 
In the golden, solemn dawn;
Oh no, remain it can not a secret.


*Ashok - the name of a tree with crimson flowers in spring, in Bengal.

Who whispers unknown tunes

অজানা সুর কে দিয়ে যায় কানে কানে
Awjana shoor key diye jaay

Who whispers unknown tunes
In my ears now and then
Wafting away my thoughts in songs.
In the shadows of my past lives
In memories of my missing lute
Wistful melodies mourn their lostness
In Phalgoon* winds.
Remembering bygone spring-nights
Of togetherness, upwards at the stars 
My thoughts soar away as songs.

*Phalgoon - the first month of spring in Bengal.

We the harbingers of youth

আমরা নূতন যৌবনেরই দূত

amra nuton jouboneri doot (audio)

Here we go,
The harbingers of youth,
Strange, ecstatic and fresh,
Our ventures are unending

We defy limits
Breaking gates open to life!
We embody
The crimson flowers of spring
And the flash of lightning
That splits the heart of the storm

We make blunders too!
We dive right into the depth of the ocean
To find our shores

And when life and death
Those immortal twins bid us
We are forever-ready
To heed their calls