There sounds the flute

সখী, ওই বুঝি বাঁশি বাজে
shokhi oi bujhi baashi baje

There sounds the flute
Though I know not whether
This music I heed
Is outside of me, or within

Where does the spring breeze blow
And flowers blossom
Where is this blithesome night
Outside of me, or within?

Why do I musingly wonder
Whether to leave or to stay
Afraid of what people think
Where does my despondent love
Await me with longing
Is it in the wilderness-tryst
Or within my heart?

Do not leave, my beloved one

না, যেয়ো না, যেয়ো নাকো
na, jeyo na, jeyo nako

Do not leave, my beloved one,
Keep your promise of togetherness
Bokool, the spring flower
Yet has many blossoms to share
And we have so much to fulfill
My dear wanderer, do stay on
The moon gazes with high, dreamy eyes
Her glow suffused with music and fragrance
Yet why does Mallika the young blossom,
Fleet away in tender dejection?
Call her back, my dear wanderer

In my dreams, you betrothed me

কখন দিলে পরায়ে
kokhon dile poraye

In my dreams, you betrothed me
With a garland of tears
I woke to find the morning sun
Touching upon the clouds
And a flute announcing
The tearful melody of your departure
In the darkness, you arrived
And left, unnoticed
Leaving me heartbroken
Adorning me with the pain of separation

With every wound are you testing me

আঘাত করে নিলে জিনে
aaghat kore nile jine

With every wound you test me
You seize my heart day by day

Breaking down the fences of comfort
Then did you step into my heart
I came to know you after much grief
Time and again in the face of death
Tossed by waves in this stormy night
I have given up helm to your hands

Nowhere did you let me be in peace
Not on the road, not in the mart
When all of mine was auctioned away
Only then did you acquire me

My distracted love

আন্‌মনা, আন্‌মনা
anmona anmona

My distracted love,
The time is still unripe
To bring my bouquet of messages to you,
For the tunes would slip your notice
And my truth elude your heart
And vainly would I wonder, if I had touched you

But when your eyes are thoughtful
In a glowing moment of silent beauty in the dusk,
My gentle notes will comfort your agony

The rhythmic verses will then
Bear for your listening
Languid beats in soft nuances,
Like the hum of crickets
Imparting songs in the woods
Of a meditative darkness
Let me sit at the fringe
Of your solitary home
Tracing alike a musical image
In deep contemplation

In the darkness I came

আমি এলেম তারি দ্বারে
ami elem tomar daare (audio)

In the darkness I came
And knocked at your door
Moments passed
Yet I found no answer
Alike, you eluded my sight

With vain ventures, let me depart
Leaving this message at your feet
My quest may have been fruitless
But I had come to look
And now in my painful desolation
I travel afar leaving you behind

Dweller of my heart..

এসো আমার ঘরে এসো
eso amar ghore 

Dweller of my.. heart.. come home.. to me..
Take.. your place.. in my tears.. and laughter..
And beat.. to the pulse.. of my life..
Step.. into the sunshine..
From the abode.. of my dreams..
Show yourself.. to my yearning eyes..
As you flourish.. like a happy.. flower.. 

It was but a while ago that we met in the woods

সেদিন দুজনে দুলেছিনু বনে
shey din dujone dulechhinu bone


It was but a while ago
That we met in the woods
And swayed on a swing
Adorned with flowers
Let us hold on to that memory
That seems to surface
Over and again in my heart

The wind had muttered
The same crazy words as my own
And in the sky the moonbeams spread
Assuming a strange likeness to your smile

A full moon overhead
Lit our paths
And there we met
In that auspicious moment

Now with those memories past
I bear our painful separation
Within my silent solitude
If I were to entrust my heart to you
Would you secure it forever?

In my sleepless nights

জাগরণে যায় বিভাবরী
jagorone jay bibhabori

In my sleepless nights
Who is it that keeps me awake?
She who remains lost to me
I yearn to find in my solitude
Her flute resounding in my heart

Speechless is the somber night
Yet I heed silent, secret messages
In my heart filled with pain
And in my eyes brimmed with tears
It is her shadow that trembles
Now and again

(another version by Rumela Sengupta)

The night slips by in sleeplessness
Who keeps me awake so
Oh sweet is this sorrow!

For her I wander all alone
Athirst my eyes see her not
It is her flute, her flute it is
That resonates in my heart
Oh sweet is this sorrow!

Words unspoken yet I hear
What is it I hear who can tell
In my heart brimming with ache
In my eyes streaming with tears
Her silhouette flickers time and again

This is but a flight of fantasy

এ শুধু অলস মায়া
e shudhu olosho maya

This is but a flight of fantasy
Painted with imagination
Like clouds coloured by the sun's radiance
Such are momentary tears and laughter --
A mere melody fading in the air
Imparting the transience of a garland
Put together by an unmindful one,
Then torn apart again
Like sun-rays that stir the leaves,
And blossoms that play with their shadows
It is but spring-bouts of shade and sun

I forget my path and spend all my hours
In this playfulness
Losing myself in a land of mist
Drawing strange blossoms
To offer a nameless friend,
Flowers that wither by the dusk
And return to forests unknown

Who will be my companion in this game?
Whether anyone does care or not
I will go on singing my songs
Forgetting them by the moment,
Hoping that these passing tunes will perhaps
Touch someone, somewhere

Read his note to me my friends

দে পড়ে দে আমায় তোরা
dey pore dey amay tora

Read his note to me my friends,
Let me delve in his message,
Distant, yet so close to my heart

Let it bear the sweet smell of pastures
Into my solitary hearth,
Like a languid traveler wind
Stirring my free locks,
Ushering in a tune of the blue sky,
Unfolding beauty of dusty, wandering paths
At my window

In the blushing twilight,
I too will pour my heart in a colorful rally,
The trace of a tear catching me unawares
In that dusky, lonesome moment

Are you merely the image

তুমি কি কেবলই ছবি
tumi ki keboli chhobi

Are you merely the image?
Are you not as certain
As the galaxy of stars
As true as the luminary
Wayfarers of darkness?

As you elude my sight
You venture into the seat of my heart
Spreading in the green of the earth
In the azure of the sky
And in that match, my world
Finds its harmony.

None realize how
Your melodies play unheard
To blend in with my songs
And how you become the muse
Within the poet's heart.

Another translation for rendition in English by Anandamayee Majumdar

Are you a mere painting?
A portrait to see?
Behold the vast galaxies
Nested in the sky
Like swarming bees.
Those that day and night
Travel in the darkness
with their light 
heavenly bodies.

Tell me
you are as alive!
Merely painting
doesn't seem right.

Hidden you are from my sight.
Turned into the
apple of my eye.
That's why
You blend in the green
You blend in the sky.
Your secret smile
Comes together with
My delight.

None happen to see
None realize
Your songs
flow in my vibes.
Music within
this heart of mine.
Merely a portrait

doesn't seem right.

Your happiness has arrived..

তোমার আনন্দ ওই এলো দ্বারে
tomar anondo oi elo daare (video)

Your happiness has arrived..
right.. at your door..
Spread your heart..
for her to step on..

Moisten her path..
with scented rain..
Don't let her walk..
soiled feet..

Your beauty.. has arrived..
right.. at your door..
Spread your longing..
for her to step on..

All you have is blessed..
Open wide.. to the world..
in good heart..

See how.. the sky.. reds..
see how.. the soul.. sings...

Your boundless.. light..
right at.. your door..
Lift up your heart..
and set it alight..

My heart desires to leave

সখী, আঁধারে একেলা ঘরে
shokhi aa(n)dhare ekela ghawre

My heart desires to leave
A solitary home of darkness,
My yearning soul searches for a path
But knows none
In the sound of incessant rains
In the profound somber night
And in the monsoon breeze,
I can occasionally hear a message,
But time and again it escapes me

Come Spring, touch me now

রাঙিয়ে দিয়ে যাও
Rangiye diye jaao (audio link: Hemanta Mukhopadhyay)


a translation meant for an English rendition of the song
(Find an English rendition of this song in Youtube here:)

Come Spring, touch me now
as you make your way to go
your tender brush
this secret show
your smiling ever-youthful face
loving tears, all the flow

red and purple, touch my soul
pink and orange, touch my toil 
blue and saffron, touch my soul.
Spark my flame, light my room
paint my night, paint my gloom.

Wake me up 
wake me up, as you go
awake my pulse 
awake my pulse, as you go.

Like a sky, making stars in the night
like a spring, falling out, out of plight
like thunder, rumbling in the heart of space
like a dance forming in the universe

undulate undulate 
lead my path, lead my way
free my chains, free my stay

translated by Anandamayee Majumdar, 12 March 2017




(another version by Rumela):

Colour me in crimson

Colour me in saffron

As you take your leave

Colour me in all shades

Of your own emotions

Those you kept a secret

Those you let bloom in youthful smile

Those you let flow in soulful tears

Let your hues brush upon my soul

Colour each and every action

Alight upon the flame of the evening lamp

Caress the sleeplessness of a dark night

Do arouse me before you go

A gentle nudge of your feet to

Make my blood pulse to your rhythm

Like a star lighting up the dark night

Like a spring bursting through the rocks

Like a rumble raging within the cloud

Like the rhythm that vibrates

In the heart of the dancing cosmos

Do let my heart sway to your beat

Even as you take your leave

Freeing me from fetters of tears

My Veena resounds today

মোর বীণা ওঠে কোন সুরে বাজি
mor beena oThe kon shure baji

My Veena resounds today
With fresh melodies,
And emphatic rhythms,
My heart echoes in thrill
To the pulsing of the earth

Now a restless youth
Spreads his golden cloak
Over and yonder,
What a flurry of unbridled joy,
As woodlands rejoice in dancing lights

One listens to the sky
And heeds silent anklet chimes
With leaves applauding
To that speechless beat

Who does the grass await
Wishing to be touched by the feet,
Why do rampant winds wander
Distraught with fragrance of wild blossoms?

You arrived in the dark

যখন এসেছিলে অন্ধকারে চাঁদ ওঠে নি সিন্ধুপারে
jokhon eshechhile shindhu-pare chaa(n)d oTheni
(audio)

You arrived in the dark,
When the moon was not yet up
Over the river-banks

My unknown love,
Even as you were hidden from sight,
I had only to listen to your songs to know you
Feeling the echoes within myself

When you left on a desolate path,
The moon glowed overhead
It was then I found your garland
Lying on the earth
And realized, who you had left it for

When she sees her mistake

বাহিরে ভুল ভাঙবে যখন
bahire bhul bhangbe jokhon (audio)

When she sees her mistake
will her heart know the same?
When the fire dies down
will she seek some grace, then?

The sun was beating hard.
Now, should it not rain?
Won't she find love
after the first flash of shame?

As far as she may wander
won't it be harder
to bear her dear pain?
When dark clouds spill over
will tears know restrain?

Your distant eyes are like restless birds of the forest

কোথা বাইরে দূরে যায়রে উড়ে
kotha baire dure jayre uRe

Your distant eyes are like
Restless birds of the forest
As they search from afar,
And fly back in plight
To the wilderness

Yet a day will come when
A beautiful melody will usher them in,
And they will happily
Accept the bondage of love,
Ending a long wandering quest

But now, your distant eyes
Are like restless birds of the forest,
Flying back in plight to the wilderness

You seem heedless of the one
Who quietly leaves his message at your door
Only listening to the southern breeze
Bearing its secret notes

Silently an eternal spring
Steps into your heart, in enchanting melody,
In blissful tunes,
In the scent of blossoms,
Yet, you have vainly searched for all
Outside your heart's premises

And now your distant eyes
Are like restless birds of the forest,
Flying back in plight to the wilderness

On this harp of finitude

সীমার মাঝে অসীম তুমি
sheemar majhe awsheem tumi

On this harp of finitude
You play the tune of Infinite,
O Boundless!
And so it is that your joy in me
Is so sweet

In varied smells and colours
And music of manifold rhythms
The ecstasy of your infinite beauty
Illuminates my heart,
So grand is your revelation in me!

The perfect union of us two
Lets down all bars,
And the world with its ocean and sky
Becomes rampant in mirth

Your crystal luster is a formless halo
In the confines of my finite comprehension
It assumes various forms
And to it my tears impart exquisite beauty
So sweet is your revelation in me!

(Translation: Subrata Majumdar)

I know not if you will care

মনে রবে কি না রবে আমারে
mone robe kina robe amare (audio: Hemanta Mukhopadhyay)

I know not if you will care
To remember this poet
Coming and singing with no intent
Off and on at your door.

Time flows on,
So long as I am here,
I like see the flash of smile
Of sudden happiness in your face
If and when we meet,
My songs yearn thereafter.

Flowers blossom in spring,
Wither and fall in its wake.
The gift of fullness in the transient moment
Expresses their sole purpose.

But my days will come to an end,
The light will fade into dusk,
Melodies faint away to cease,
And the Veena retire to rest.

Till then let me sing
So long as I am here.
Won't the gift of your smile delight
and fill in these playful float-some moments?

(Translation: Subrata Majumdar)

Another translation by Anandamayee Majumdar (meant for English rendition of song)

Will you care to remember me?
I do not worry about it.

Time and time again
I come to you
My songs flow on
So carelessly.

So long as I am here
We keep up far and near
I like to see
So suddenly your
Flash of smile; my
Songs flow on
So carelessly

Flowers fade
in good time
When spring is all spent

Loving gifts
Fill the heart;
are lost to the moment.

My days will
come to an end,
light
will fade
and
music as well.


Till then
let me sing,
won't you smile
play and
brim my mind?
My songs flow on
so carelessly.

In this somber rainy evening

আমার দিন ফুরালো ব্যাকুল বাদল সাঁঝে
amar din phuralo

In this somber rainy evening
I think my call has rung,
And the heaping clouds melt in
Heavy showers.

The sweet purl of the flowing river
In the deep shadows of the forests
Tune my heart with the saddest notes
And it pours forth the resonant music
At the profound beats
Of the thunder drum.

My remotest friend has come today
He stands silently
In the obscure dark.
While his heart is heavy
With the pang of separation,
It brims with the hope of our
Secret meet.

I think I know his silent footstep sound
And am charmed of his unseen grace.

A song of wholehearted joy

জগৎ জুড়ে উদার সুরে
jogoto jure udar shure anondo gaan baje (audio)

A song of wholehearted joy
multiplies beyond the earth
I wonder when the music lands
distant echoes in my heart.

When full of love will I
embrace water, air and sky
assortments of every kind
light in me, begin to thrive?

When will I with curious eyes
find pleasure in all I see
celebrate my daily life
roads I cross, with ecstasy?

When will I with ease and trust
see, you are truly there?
Whisper your beloved name
through my service, through my care?

Yet do remember

তবু মনে রেখো
tobu mone rekho (audio)

Yet do remember,
Afar if I do go
If enshrouded is an old love
Beneath the web of a love new

If close at hand I do stay
But see you can't, like a shadow,
Am I there or am I not
Yet do remember

If tears do film the eyelids
If on a pleasant night one day,
there be a pause in play
If an autumn morning one day,
there be a lull in work
Yet do remember

If ever in remembrance
Tears do not well up in your eyes
Yet do remember

Walking on this path alone

যেতে যেতে একলা পথে
jete jete ekla pothe

My light has died out
As I walk this path alone
O look! a storm gathers
I now have a mate

Calamity flashes it’s smile in the skies
Disaster plays with my locks in wild abandon
I forget the path that I was on

Where again have I to go in this dense darkness?
In raging thunder will I hear of a new road?
On reaching which realm will this night break into dawn?

Just to go to and fro

শুধু যাওয়া আসা
shudhu jawa aashaa

Just to go to and fro
Just to float with the flow
Just to laugh and cry out
In sunlight and in shade

Just to catch a glimpse
Just to feel a touch
Just to look back with tears
While going far away
Sailing forth with new doubts
Leaving behind false hopes

Limited is strength though limitless are desires,
Intense is effort but imperfect are results
Broken is the boat on which I sail the ocean
Emotion cries out, limited is expression

Incomplete be the acquaintance of hearts
Unfinished be the words, do convey them
With tremulous half-formed trust
Just to share a fraction of love.

Secret silent you will thrive

তুমি রবে নীরবে
Tumi robe nirobe hridoye momo (audio)

(a version by Anandamayee Majumdar that was translated to allow a song rendition in English)

Secret silent you will thrive
In the seat of my heart
Like a deep, divine night
Aglow in moonlight.

My life, my youthfulness,
You will fill with glory
Like a deep, divine night
Aglow in moonlight.

Your lone, gracious eyes
Will be watching over me
Your canopy will be shading me
All day all night

My pains and dreams realized,
You will steep with fragrance
Like a deep, divine night
Aglow in moonlight.

(Another version by Rumela Sengupta)

Silently echo you will in this heart of mine
Like a dark and lonely night aglow in full moon
The springtime of my life, this entire world of mine
Suffuse with honour you will like the night aglow
Awake are you alone, in tender watchfulness
Keeping me safely sheltered in your gentle shade
My despondence, grief and angst, all my dreams fulfilled
Suffuse with fragrance you will, like the night aglow


A rendition by Hemanta Mukhapadhyay and Lata Mangeshkar in Kuheli

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

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..

আনন্দধারা বহিছে ভুবনে
anondo dhara bohichhey bhuboney

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 centered.. goals..
Look around you..
Open up your heart..
Value little.. this trifling pain.. of yours..
Let love.. permeate the void.. in your life..