Deluging, endless rains

উতল-ধারা বাদল ঝরে
Utol dhara badol jhore (audio)

Deluging, endless rains
A lonely detained day

The wind, full of dampness
The river, rejuvenating, wild
Clouds, soft, enhancing
Shadows misting the wilderness.

And then in sudden epiphany
You arrive, my friend,
Bewildering my monsoon twilight
Making me anxious
To wipe your wetness
To let my tresses dry your feet

Let the night deepen
Let the darkness grow opaque
As I light my beacon of love
As I splay my heart to hold you

(another version by Rumela)

The clouds drizzle in restless flow
All day long alone in my room
A rain-soaked breeze blows strongly
The maddened river surges and swells
Dark clouds envelop the skies
Darkening the Tamal woods
O my beloved, you came at last
In what a state at the end of day
I will dry the damp with my veil
I will wipe your feet with my tresses
The dark night will deepen
I will light the lamp of love
I will lay down my heart
For you to rest your feet on
Forgetting life and death
I will welcome you in
I will overcome my coyness
And stand beside you today
Bonds and barriers will burn away
I will subdue joy and sorrow
Together with you on this stormy night
I will step outside without a fear
The clouds drizzle in restless flow
You opened the door and came inside
My eyes blinded by the flash
My heart awakened in thrill
I wish to look at your face
I lift my gaze and quiver in fright

You offered me your first yield

বাদল-দিনের প্রথম কদম ফুল করেছ দান
Badolo dinero prothomo kodomo phul (audio: Arghya Sen)

You offered me your first yield,
The fragrant Kadamba of monsoon
For my part,  I bring you
My rainy tunes.

I have shielded them
With cool shadows, dim skies,
Treasuring
My first lyrical fruition

I know today offers you abounding harvest
But tomorrow will leave you bare

And so each monsoon,
My songs will come to life,
My boat will be heaped with your honour
My melodies, echo your glory
Riding on tides
Of your lost remembrance

The night hums with endless rain

আজি বরিষনমুখরিত শ্রাবণরাতি
Aji borishono-mukhorito Sraabono raati (audio: Srikanta Acharya)

The night hums with endless rain,
I attach my aching memories
In one evocative garland,
Through the lonesome dark

I delude myself
Into keeping the door ajar,
Into imagining a friend arrive
To share my somber night

A heart who will mold music
From monsoon showers,
A soul that can enamor
Savory Kadamba buds

The muse who will perhaps,
Never show up --
For whom I embed
My yearnings on the soil
With patient contemplation

Pressing hours of high monsoon

যায় দিন শ্রাবণদিন যায়
Jaay din Sraabon din jaay (audio)

Pressing hours of high monsoon
Cloud my heart,
Whisper the emptiness
Of my bizarre longing,
Piqued by an enchanting dusk

A solitary night is imminent.
My lamp flickers,
With promise, questions,
The void vibrates with ambivalence.
There are no answers,
Only a wild wind
Embarks homeless on the pathway

The opaque dark has stifled my dreams.
But the night, wounded with heartbreak,
Hunts for expression, eloquence
Through the rustling music of rain,
The sodden fragrance of Malati.

The monsoon night culminates

আজি বর্ষারাতের শেষে
Aji borsha raater sheshe (audio: Debabrata Biswas)

The monsoon night
Culminates in a sparkling dawn
Sodden clouds
Dissolve their smoky kohl
With softened sun-streaks,
Iridescence crown the bamboo,
Colors trickle, ubiquitously.

The grass glistens, rustles,
Reverberating my vibes,
My vibrations.

I sense the soil's love,
The symphony of light.
I feel my blood rush with delight
My heart harmonize,
Laugh out, with the wilderness.

I splay my heart in the monsoon sky

নিবিড় মেঘের ছায়ায় মন দিয়েছি মেলে
Nibiro meghero chhayay mono diyechhi mele (audio)

I splay my heart in the monsoon sky
Beneath a clouded, opaque dimness.
I wonder if you sense my message
In your dreams,
Across a thousand seas

Waves lap with longing
Transporting the blues
From south, faraway rivers

A memory,
Merging the music of darkness,
Hovers along the path
Of irretrievable stars

My wakeful, aching eyes
Keep peering through a fruitless void,
An eternal emptiness

Beyond boundless monsoon

শ্রাবণবরিষন পার হয়ে কী বাণী আসে ওই রয়ে রয়ে
Sraabon borishon paar hoye kee banee (audio: Mita Huq)

Beyond boundless monsoon,
Undying rains,
A mysterious missive heaves in,
Misted with the secret spice of Ketaki,
Exuding the heartiness of Bokul,
Breathing an ancient lover's
Deathless tears of longing

A missive, that delves into the poet's heart
Amassing music to match it's hurt

A message whispered to a love
Lost in endless separation
Conveyed, softly, stealthily,
Through rain-melodies of Malhar
Like a momentous cloud messenger.

In my quest of a song

আমি কী গান গাব যে ভেবে না পাই
Ami ki gaan gaabo je bhebe na paai (audio: Sagar Sen)

In my quest of a song
I delve into the sullen sky,
The monsoon breeze
Replete with longing.

There is a passionate eloquence,
A dancing gig, strange, mysterious,
Among the trees blowing in the wind,
Which I yearn to learn, 
Spend hours to assimilate

My body responds to a
Wave of unearthly melodies, 
Deluging me
In streams of splendor

A secret thrives in the chasm
Of my shadowed consciousness,
In the twilight haze of my dreams,
Which I pine to possess
Very deeply.

Submerged in high monsoon

আজি শ্রাবণঘনগহন মোহে
Aji sraabonghonogohon mohe (audio: Debabrata Biswas)

Submerged in high monsoon,
in an opaque darkness
you arrived, as clandestine,
as secretive and soundless
as the sleeping night.

The dawn has shut her eyes
the wind calls out in vain
the brazen blue of the sky
has been dimmed.

Birds in the wilderness are speechless,
gates have been latched,
roads are unoccupied
but for you, lone traveler.

I keep my door ajar for you,
my friend, my love,
do not hover away from me
like a lost dream,
do not deal me with apathy.

Awash with monsoon vibes

এই শ্রাবণ-বেলা বাদল-ঝরা যূথীবনের গন্ধে ভরা
Ei sraabono bela baadolo jhora (audio: Subinoy Roy)

Awash with monsoon vibes,
Eternal rains,
The prolific fragrance of jasmine
A mystic image from antiquity sets in,
A lover yearning for her tryst
In the shadowed downpour

And I, deluged with longing
Hold my gaze to a solitary hearth,
Expecting a secret muse
At my doorstep
In the dark, in the drizzling twilight,
Singing a heart-sifting melody

(another version by Rumela)

This rain-soaked monsoon day
Filled with the fragrance of juthi flowers
She roves the dense woods, nook to nook
Wearing a veil of shadows
I seem to know her from a time forgotten
She who pines, estranged from her beloved

Why do I stare at the desolate road
What if she comes all of a sudden to my door
In the darkness of the clouded evening
She sings a song so heart-overwhelming

Emancipation is your only way

এই কথাটা ধরে রাখিস মুক্তি তোরে পেতেই হবে

Ei kothata dhore rakhish (audio)

You better not forget this
freedom is what you need.
The road that leads to light
is your road and odyssey.

Sing out loud
sing a song of daring.
You'll have to toss and turn
in the wind joyfully.

If you're moving round and round
you just need to stop it all.
When you walk, the road is rough
your feet will suffer injury.

Say goodbye to comfort,
never die with a timid heart.
If you want to have a life,
you must take the deathly hit.

If you will not save then why slay me

না বাঁচাবে আমায় যদি মারবে কেন তবে?
Na banchabe amay jodi marbe keno tobe (audio: Suchitra Mitra)

If you will not save
then why slay me?
Is there a meaning
to this grand agony?

I see the fire
in your arrow।
The earth trembles
at your feet.
As you make life
so do you hit.

I can feel how
you furrow my heart
to seek my gold.
But what makes you
think I own it?

I have a chest full of pain,
jewels for your crown.
Perhaps, my sorrow
will wake my heart
with dormant majesty.

Stand by me, my friend

বন্ধু, রহো রহো সাথে

Bondhu roho shathe (audio: Kanika Bandyopadhyay)

Stand by me, my friend,

Endure, this sunless morning of monsoon

I wonder if it was you in my dreams

When the night for me, was starkly solitary

As the day precipitates to nothingness,  

As the wind billows with tearful anguish,

Whisper soulful words to my heart

Slip your hands through my own

Who do I call out to

আমি কারে ডাকি গো
Aami kaare daaki go

Who do I call out to
Do untie me from my bonds

I stretch out my hands
Do seize me and take my all

Do summon me with such a call
That my fear and shame fall away
That I leave it all
That I push it all aside
And rush and run headlong

I am ensnared in dreams
I am ensconced in stupor
She lies curled up within
With her eyes closed

One day after another
Where do they all fade?
In a wordless flow of tears
Cries out my heart

O my friend who feels my ache

সকল জনম ভ'রে ও মোর দরদিয়া
Shokol jonom bhore o mor dorodiya

O my friend who feels my ache
I weep and make you weep all my life long
O my friend who feels my ache

You reside in my heart
Where rings out many a pain
Does it befit you?
O my friend who feels my ache

Darkness never leaves
This room with its doors shut close
Yet you remain therein
O my friend who feels my ache

There I have not laid a seat
There wreathed flowers I have not
My head hangs down in shame
O my friend who feels my ache

My sentimental pride

আমার অভিমানের বদলে আজ
Amar obhimaner bodole

I will take your garland today
In place of my sentimental pride
Today by the end of night
Let me end my tearful daze

I cast off my hardened heart by the wayside
May your feet grace it with a soft touch
And melt that stone

I was engulfed in darkness
You took off its shroud
Your love came like a fire
And illumined it in brightness

The self of mine that to me was so dear
I will empty it all and offer it to you

I won’t pray to you for peace

তোমার কাছে শান্তি চাব না
Tomar kaachhe shanti chabona

I won’t pray to you for peace
Let them stay, my worry and pain

On this, my swing of disquiet
Alight in all your glorious play
I wish to rock you to and fro

Let the wind put out the lamp
Let the storm unfurl its flag
In that darkness I will seek
The touch of your feet
Against my heart

Do you have still more arrows in your quiver?

ও নিঠুর, আরো কি বাণ তোমার তূণে আছে
O nithur, aaro ki baan tomar trine aachhe

O ruthless One
Do you have still more arrows in your quiver?
To pierce me where it hurts, in my bosom

I run and flee, I shut my eyes, I veil my face
Lest I get hurt somewhere someplace
Because I fear your lashing so
My heart is thus ablaze in pain

The day it is I lose my fear
Exhaust will all your arrows
Breathe will life having welcomed death

How can you overcome pain

দুঃখ যদি না পাবে তো
Dukkho jodi na paabe to

How can you overcome pain if you avoid it
Isn’t the antidote to venom, venom itself

Let ablaze be the fire
Be not the slightest afraid
When it is reduced to cinder
It can never be kindled again

Do not flee skirting around it
Do not shy away from being taken captive

The farther you run
The more pain you get

Finish off death itself
With your dying breath
Then will life come
And take its own place

When I hurt you

যখন তোমায় আঘাত করি
Jokhon tomay aghat kori

When I hurt you, then it is I get to know you
When I oppose you, then it is you win me over

The more I plunder your wealth for myself
The more I find myself in your debt

When I push upstream in pride and joy
I feel the force of your flow on my bosom

When I let the light in my room flicker off
In inert indolence
Your night sky lights up a thousand stars

I feel empty

শূন্য হাতে ফিরি, হে নাথ, পথে পথে 
Shunyo haate phiri, he nath, pothe pothe (audio: Suchitra Mitra)

I feel empty, drifting,
begging, at many doors.
My heart thirsts for some strange thing.
My spirit refuses to be quenched,
my hunger seethes within.
I squander little profits
I drown in a deluge of tears,

Seekers have gained on me,
the sun dips in the horizon.
Darkness sets in
crowds, scatter into silence.

I wonder, how many pathways,
I need to walk down
to arrive at a resplendent home
by the shore.
Till then I embed my yearnings
on the pathway.

The heart you flail with flowers

পুষ্প দিয়ে মার যারে
Pushpo diye maro jare (audio: Debabrata Biswas)

The heart you flail with flowers
May never know the face of death
The assailed, in stead, will stumble,
Fall and embrace your feet

What has the injured got to fear
If, beneath an endless chasm
She discovers your irrevocable arms?

The one cocooned in comfort
Confuses insult with pleasure,
Shame with beauty.
How can she discover bliss, revealed
Through your unbidden destruction?

The one who lives by a bed of roses,
How will she taste the ethereal nectar
Of her own tears,
How will she arrive
At the rock-bottom shelter of your feet?

Release the gates, my playmate

 খেলার সাথি, বিদায়দ্বার খোলো
Khelar shathi, biday-dwar kholo (audio: Suchitra Mitra)

Release the gates, my playmate
As our heyday comes to an end
Bid me goodbye

There is a faraway echo
Urging the tramp to depart
Here, our happy carnival ends

I wait to hear from you

বসে আছি হে   কবে   শুনিব তোমার বাণী

Boshe achhi he kobe shunibo tomaro banee (audio: Subinoy Roy)

I wait to hear from you,
your heart speaking to me.
I long to travel through the world with
my full, blessed heart.

When will my soul awake
and sing you a song of love?
When shall I go door to door
of the earth,
bring the love of men and women
at your own home?

Nobody listens, nobody wakes up
songs die in the desert.
I have no strength to make a song
with your force and light.

If you don't speak through me,
what can my words mean?
It's all yours, I shall echo
because I know nothing.
I shall call all by your name,
bring them close to my heart.

With one salutation, master

একটি নমস্কারে, প্রভু
Ekti nomoshkare probhu (audio)

With one salutation, master
Let my body embrace my earth.

Let my heart bow down
juicy as a rainy cloud
yielding at your door.

With one salutation
let all songs combine
to make a silent, single sea.

Like a swan song let me fly
day and night to the end of death.

Eternal sunshine

 হে চিরনূতন, আজি এ দিনের প্রথম গানে
He chiro nuton, aji e diner prothom gaane (audio)

Evergreen sun,
make me bloom
to your first song.

Your words give me hope.
they sound like eternity.
Your blessings last me.

In this golden moment
let the sky fill with a lovely wind.
Give me new air to breath.
Birth me again.

Mend my broken and weak.
Flood my old and dim
with new sunshine.

Inferno descends in laps of thunder

প্রচণ্ড গর্জনে আসিল একি দুর্দিন

Prochondo gorjone ashilo eki durdino (audio)

Inferno is at the door,
listen to the tempest roar.
Lightning is a snake
the sky bitten with ache.
Heaven's gone blind
with tears and a sigh.

Release your woe
your fear, lazy one.
Shine your power
with joy.

Open your eyes.
There's serenity here.
In the seat of big fear
there is deathless wave
and it can make us brave.



(another version by Rumela)

What calamity descends

With such a growl and roar

Such a parade of clouds

With a thundering drumroll

A night lashed by snakes of lightning

A sky blinded by teary downpour

Break free from your terror

Awaken from fear and laze

Arouse the courage within

With a buoyant burst of bliss

Unabashed, lay your eyes upon

The stretch of the silent still

Resplendent in the conquest of death

The conquistador of fear

Cosmic heart at work

যিনি সকল কাজের কাজী 
Jini shokol kajer kaji (audio)

The cosmic heart at work
who we aid at all travail
He humours every flash
He startles every turn
He sweetens with abundance
and lifts us in the fun.

With that monumental beat
we march along in glee
He blows upon his horn
we dance his rhapsody.

His game riots with life
His sport spurs with death
we cherish in his rules
it hems in joy and ache.

When he asks for presence
His voice, a booming cloud
we rush to meet his call
our faith clear and loud.

We trample tricky thorns
and sail the seven seas,
we cross mammoth mountains
to answer his entreats.

In my deep wilderness

হৃদয়নন্দনবনে নিভৃত এ নিকেতনে
Hridoynondono bone nibhrito e niketone (audio: Subinoy Roy)

In my deep wilderness
in my house of silence,
arrive, my beautiful
arrive, my joy.

Show me your tender face
take away my sadness
arrive in my tormented heart
aching with divorce.

Bring me 
worthy days and nights.
Make my hollow life
worthwhile.

Let your melodies
make my heart sing.
Day-and-night
shower my heart
with your ambrosial wine.

(another version by Rumela)

Into the secret abode in my heart's wilderness
Come O Lord, ever joyous, ever good
Show your loving visage, set aside all woe
Scorched in the sorrow of separation
My heart awaits your soothing presence
Usher into my life days and nights of well-being
Bring to fruition this futile life of mine, my dearest
Let my heart ever resonate with sweet melody
Let cascades of sweet nectar sprinkle my heart night and day

O Beauteous One, I have bedecked my home

ওহে সুন্দর, মম গৃহে আজি
ohe shundor, momo grihe

O Beauteous One,
I have bedecked my home
For this night of supreme joy
I have laid a lotus seat
In the golden temple of my heart

Come my dearest, my sweetheart
Shower upon my tearladen eyes
The lustrous smile of your compassion

From across groves and glades
Jasmines I have culled
To adorn your bosom, to lay at your feet

I will play my Veena
Clinging close to your feet
I will usher you in with a bow
O companion of my soul