Kurani (A Foundling)

Lips pouted, head tilted in rage,
Nostrils inflated, eyes ablaze,
Fumed the eight year old maiden fair,
“Stinking ape ! Marrying with you, I’ll never care.”
Such severe punishment, a misfortune more
Was well beyond endurance, in those days of yore.
Large were her eyes and Kurani was her name,
Fiercely gripping her ample hair, I slapped her to make tame.

Tears began to well up, but they froze, and remained still.
Started she to move away, and not a drop did spill.
Her anklets tinkled, as in suppressed anguish, I began to whine,
“Get lost – on these berries and mangoes, alone shall I dine.”
The frozen tears thawed, she smiled, and managed my hands to find,
And say, “I overlooked telling you, did I, that a female ape’s my kind?”

2
The fair maiden’s fifteen now, her eyes are overcast,
With the plush and wealth of thunder clouds, billowing ever vast.
A novice she’s in handling yet, her devastating charm,
In a figure slim, as the corner of her lips, lie hidden behind an arm
Of a smile mysterious, glowing in chorus, with a sprouting fun filled hue,
Distant she has turned and yet, so close she’s turned anew.
Her company though has grown all scarce, incessantly still,
Excuses I keep on seeking, frenzied yearnings to fulfil,
To this end, on jackfruit glue smeared branches of the trees,
I manage to trap a myna, a parrot, when Lady Luck decrees,
And present them to Kurani, who outright them rejects,
Saying, “I ain’t no more a baby,” her case she firmly rests.
My heart grows heavy, knowing so well, that I hardly ever can
Slap her across the face again, or scary warnings fan.
3
Kurani’s mother, showers her blessings, when I return home on leave,
But she bemoans, “I’m weary Mani, for can you really believe?
Kurani starts on nineteen soon, see how grown's this lass,
As big as the hills and mighty mountains, but no bridegroom’s shown alas!”
“Will search for a worthy match,” I try, the mother to console,
My stealing glances, for the daughter though, fail to meet their goal.
Pale and speechless, all heartbroken, I leave to start my quest --
When out of nowhere, emerges a laughter, sharp and full of jest.
“Mother dear!” someone’s saying, “Your reasoning leaves me numb!
Who’ll search, for a groom for his own bride, unless he’s dumb?”
Suddenly, this message clear, halted all solar motion,
Suddenly a thousand birds sang out, all together in fusion,
Suddenly, the branches waved, in a wild and restless breeze,
And made the magnolias, each one of them, blossom forth in please.
_______________________________________________________________________

Eighth Revision (February 7, 2011) of a free translation of a Bengali poem by Manish Ghatak (1902 - 1979).

 

Thanks Satchitananda:

Thanks for reading. It took me a great deal of time to translate it. It went through several revisions. I have a few more translations of Bengali gems. Sometime I will put them up I think.

Love.

oj-da

 

Thank you vjbunny:

It is always nice to know that what you found beautiful looked attractive to others too. The poem was translated by me. Took me several tries of course.

Best regards.

oj-da

 

Dear malligashivaram:

Actually this is a pure love poem. Of course, you are right about the ill treatment of young girls in the past. However, this poem is not about that unfortunate part of our history. It is a happy love story, written in the form of a poem.

Best regards.

oj

 

Dear rgsrinivasan:

How good to know that you enjoyed the beauty of the poem. If you could read Bengali you would know how beautiful the original is. Thanks for reading.

ojaantrik