Exhibited artworks with Translations of poems and songs 











Song- Akash bhara shurjo tara

The sky is filled with stars and the sun,

this earth with life vibrant.

Among it all I too have received a home

out of this wonder my song is born.

In the rhythm of ebb and tide of eternal time

the world floats,its pull enters the blood stream

that through my nerves flows.

Out of this wonder my song is born.

I have trodden on grass passing through the wood

my mind infused with the surprise that the smell of

flowers brings,

Spread around me is such delightful gifts.

I have lent my ears, opened my eyes,

On the bosom of this earth poured forth my life,

Looking for the unknown in all that I know.

This wonder brings forth my song. 


Translated by Shuvakar mitra

 


Poetry- Chitta jetha bhay sunya

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high Where knowledge is free 

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments

By narrow domestic walls

Where words come out from the depth of truth

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way 

Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit 

Where the mind is led forward by thee 

Into ever-widening thought and action

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

Translated by Rabindranath Tagore

 


 


Song-Gram chhara oi


Those roads of ruby earth

That leave from the village

They steal my very heart

Gaze at whom, with arms stretched

Sprawling on the red dust

Who lures me out of home

Tugging at my ankles

With every step

Who abducting takes me

Pulling me along where

To which damned place

What treasures at which turns

Unearth will he

What debts at which crossroads

Unleash will he

The end where does one find

Contemplate cannot this mind


 Translated by Rumela Sengupta


Song-Amay kshama he kshama

In the pulsing life of dance,

To thee I raise

In wordless praise

My eager body’s rhythmed cry

This new birth’s eloquence

In music and in gesture shines

My worship, Lord

                                             [Tagore, “Natir Puja”]

song-Aaj jyotsna raate shabai gechhe

 

Today in full moon all have gone

Gone have they to the woods

In spring’s delirious breeze

Go I will not, not go

Remain within my room

In solitude

Stay in my own corner

Go I will not

In spring’s delirious breeze

With tender care

I must tidy my room

I must remain awake

Who knows when He will come

If He does remember

In spring’s delirious breeze

Translated by Rumela Sengupta


Song-Dui haate kaaler mandira


Leaning to the left and right, progressing, while dancing,

The slumber is abolished, dancing-

rhythms are formed by ever renewed pulsation of conflicts.

The rhythm vibrates in flowers, vibrates in thorns

In light and shades, in crests and troughs,

It resonates in our lives, in our sorrows, joys and worries.

The rhythm ricochets in dawn and dusk,

Generates swings in the ethereal sea of beauty,

The conflict between black and white results in

Rhythms being formed with pulsating colors of life.

Tune your song in consonance with this rhythm,

Perform singing your songs of joys and sorrows,

Listen to the calls of life and death

In the blowing of trumpets on the dancing floor.


Translated by Shubhashis


Chitrangada


Song-Aami Chitrangada rajendranandini

I am Chitrangada, the princess

No deity, nor an ordinary woman

Not a goddess of worship

Not a commoner to be cast behind

But if you approve my rightful place

In peril and in plenty

In trusting companionship

Through the penance of suffering

By your side

You may then realize I for who I am

But for now

Merely I tender

I am Chitrangada, the princess


Translated by  Anandamayee Majumdar


Chandalika-01  

Song- Je manabo ami 

Daughter- you are the same human as I am 

That water which quenches thirst is holy water

That water which calms the tired traveller is sacred

Give me water....

My blessings are with you, merciful one.

Translated by   Sangeeta Datta

  

 

Chandalika-02  



Balmiki prativa

Song- Shyama ebar chere cholechi ma

 

I am leaving you Mother

Daughter of black stone- you are stone hearted

I called you Mother without knowing

All this time you beguiled me and turned my heart to stone

Today I have seen my real Mother and my heart drowns in compassionate tears

I will not look on black and be deluded

I have seen light and lost my heart

You have beguiled me- now I will leave you

I have escaped from illusion

and have found rest in my Mother's lap.

 

Translated by   Sangeeta Datta


Song- Je manabo ami 

Daughter- you are the same human 

as I am 

That water which quenches thirst is holy water

That water which calms the tired traveller is sacred

Give me water....

My blessings are with you, merciful one.

Translated by   Sangeeta Datta


Song-Ja chhilo Kalo dholo 

Whatever was dark and dusty has been dyed bright in your colours

Your feet are 'dorned bright red- 

everything around looks crimson hued like them.

Coloured are my clothes and jewels, nights and dreams

And my heart, look at it, has turned into a floating, dancing red lotus.

 

Translated by   Sangeeta Datta

Poem-Krishnakali ami tarei boli

In the village they call her the dark girl

but to me she is the flower Krishnakali

On a cloudy day in a field

I saw the dark girl's dark gazelle-eyes.

She had no covering on her head,

her loose hair had fallen on her back.

Dark? However dark she be,

I have seen her dark gazelleeyes.

Two black cows were lowing,

as it grew dark under the heavy clouds.

So with anxious, hurried steps,

the dark girl came from her hut.

Raising her eyebrows toward the sky,

she listened a moment to the clouds' rumble.

Dark? However dark she be,

I have seen her dark gazelle-eyes.

A gust of the east wind

rippled the rice plants.

I was standing by a ridge,

alone in the field.

Whether or not she looked at me

Is known only to us two.

Dark? However dark she be,

I have seen her dark gazelle-eyes.

This how the Kohldark cloud

rises in the northeast in Jaistha;

the soft dark shadow

descends on the Tamal grove in Asharh;

and sudden delight floods the heart

in the night of Sravan.

Dark? However dark she be,

I have seen her dark gazelle-eyes.

To me she is the flower Krishnakali,

whatever she may be called by others.

In a field in Maynapara village

I saw the dark girl's dark gazelle-eyes.

She did not cover her head,

not having the time to feel embarrassed.

Dark? However dark she be,

I have seen her dark gazelle-eyes.

           

 Translated by Rabindranath Tagore 

Poem-'Sagarika'

Bathing in the deep blue sea,

On the pebbled beach sat thee;

Thy garments loose

Left scribbles on the shore profuse.

The affectionate Sun on thy body un-ornate

Left its golden paint.

With crown on my head,

In right hand archery held,Stood in my royal attire –

Said, "I've come, O foreigner!"

Startled, from thy seat of rock,

Thou stood up with a shock –

Asked, "Why did you come?"

Said I, "Let thy mind calm,

Only I want to pluck flower

For God's worship, in thy bower."

Thou attended me with indulgent smile;

We plucked Juthi, Jati and Champa to pile.

To sort those in the basket sat together,

Worshipped Nataraj  with our earnest prayer.

The mist was over, light flooded the sky,

Facing Shiva  Parbati's smile did lie.

As rose the evening star

On the mountain top there,

Thou alone at home

On thy waist shone

Bright blue sapphire,

Round thy head, garland of flower.

Bangles in thy hands both –

On my way playing flute I quoth –

"Guest I'm at thy door."

Scared, stretched thy lamp my face to explore;

Asked, "Why did you come?"

Said I, "Let thy mind calm,

Thy charming person I'll adorn

With the decors I've borne."

Flashed a beaming smile

On thy face, its beauty sparked awhile.

The gold necklace on thy chest

I suspended, the crown on thy head set at rest.

Lit up lights thy mates, their frolic sublime

Flooded the entire clime.

Thy ornate person did flitter

The charm of the night's lunar glitter.

With my rhyme matched thy jingle,

Smiles at the sky the full moon single;

Light and shade to and fro

As the sea waves go.

Unwittingly, the day was over;

So, my ship raised its anchor.

Sudden was the wind adverse on my voyage,

Unleashed havoc, put the sea in rage;

Drowned my ship in the salt water

In the dark night with all my treasure.

With shattered fate, I'm again at thy door

Attired as destitute, my royal robes no more;

Saw at the temple of Nataraj

As before, was the decor of flowers;

While at night, the festive sea

Rhymes moonlight dance in wavy glee;

With thy silent face down in that fest

I stole a look at my garland round thy chest,

At my paints, listened rhythms of my song

Sway thee in ecstasy, all to me belong.

I implore thee; O bonny,

Once more hold thy lamp to me;

Now I'm no more crowned,

My archery no more to be found;

In the southern wind brought neither

My basket to fill in thy bower;

Only I've brought my lute;

Try please to make me out thou astute.


Translated by- Rajat Dasgupta

 

song-Proloy Nachon

When you dance the dance of destruction

and forget yourself- O Nataraj

Your bound tresses flow open

The river flows unabated

Like a madwoman adrift

Her waves rise with celestial music.

The sunlight responds from across the skies

With words of courage for the wanderer

Tossing in your own currents

Embracing only yourself

The destitute loses and finds everything scattered on the river banks. 

Translated by   Sangeeta Datta

Song-Achenake bhaye ki amar ore


What fear have I

From the unknown?

My life will forever

Edge on the unknown

To fathom her limits

And fulfill herself.

And the quests will be unending

As newer paths call me

Into unforeseen depths of love.

Unknown was my mother to me,

When she cradled me in her lap;

Each new love is a surprise-wave

To which the heart rocks in delight.

Amid an unknown world

The soul plays its boundless tunes

And in the delirious passions

Of my strange life

Forever do I wander on her pathways.


Translated by Rumela Sengupta


Song-Shedin 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?

 Translated by  Anandamayee Majumdar 

Song- Maranare tuhu mama

 

Oh Death, you are my true love

You have the color of dark clouds

Your matted hair flows from the dark heavens

Your palm - a blood-red lotus flower

Ruby-red are your sensuous lips

Your eyes gentle, will deliver me from pain

You will embrace me and make me your own

Today my heart aches - beats anxiously

Ceaseless is the flow of my tears today

Oh Death you are my mate, my Madhava

Please take away my suffering

Please close my eyes gently Oh Death Come, Oh come to me

 

Translated by Haider.A.Khan


Song- Aguner parashmoni


Bless my life

Bless my life with thy warmth

With thy holy hand uplift my body

Make thy me the flame of thy holy alter

The incessant flame would brighten, the day and night

Light my soul with thy holy flame.

Thy holy hand touch the dark hour

Twinkling stars beget in your holy bower

The eternal darkness fade thy from the blinking eye

And see thy light in the darkest alcove where thy light might lie

My pain, my darkness my sadness would burn in thy holy flame.

Light my life with thy holy flame.


Translated by  Mrs. Barnali Saha

                                                       

Song-Raatri eshe jethai meshe

I have met thee where the night touches the edge of the day;

Where the light startles the darkness into dawn,

And the waves carry the kiss of the one shore to the other.

From the heart of the fathomless blue comes one golden call,

And across the dusk of tears I try to gaze at thy face

And know not for certain if thou art seen

Translated  by  Rabindranath Tagore