Bidding Adieu to a City (part III & IV)— Uday Prakash

Jan 12, 2024 | Poetry | 0 comments

TRANSLATED FROM THE HINDI BY MOULINATH GOSWAMI

 

Bidding Adieu to a City – 3

One day
we shall bathe in Narmada
both of us together.

Narmada emerges from Amarkantak,
we would be thinking, and
even if it did not
we would still be bathing together, and feeling good.

Then we would stand
atop some dry rock… to soak in the sun.

Then we would dress in all our fineries
feast on delicious dishes
indulge in plenty of sweet conversations
settle in an amply beautiful house.

Together we shall have a pleasant sleep
each night, and
we shall lead an abounding splendid life.

Tapti, tell me
if a grisly laughter is spreading across my face?


Bidding Adieu to a City – 4

We are
like the deck of a broken ship
And for the sake of the children
playing atop us
we cannot sink
We have to put up a fight
against the ocean, against the wind
and against possibilities.

Those who watch this
‘life and death’ game of ours
as if it was a stunt show
For whom we are merely a pair of actors
even at our own annihilation

wooden dolls we are
our sympathies, made of wood
For whom
our love seems like a dead rosewood tree,
we have to live
against all their prophecies…
We have to, Tapti.

We shall prove wrong
every solution of their algebra
and rise to the surface
each time.

And on our chests the most beautiful
and the freest of all children
shall play

We won’t sink
never ever, Tapti,
so what if we are
the deck of a broken ship?

 


Also, read Bidding Adieu to a City (part I & II) by Uday Prakash, translated from The Hindi by Moulinath Goswami, published in The Antonym: 

Bidding Adieu to the City, Parts I and II— Uday Prakash


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About Author

Uday Prakash

Uday Prakash

Born in 1952 in Aunppur, Madhya Pradesh, Uday Prakash is a wearer of many hats. A renowned Hindi poet and short story writer, he has also worked as a translator, journalist, editor, and TV director. He contributes regularly to many well-known dailies and periodicals. He is the recipient of the Sahitya Akademi award in 2011 for Mohandas and the 2009 SAARC Literary Award. The translations of his work The Walls of Delhi has been shortlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature and the Jan Michalski Prize for Literature in 2013. His stories explore the myriad facets of the human mind and the divisions in the Indian society based on class, caste, sectarian and gender lines.

About Translator

Moulinath Goswami

Moulinath Goswami

Born in Asansol, West Bengal, India, Moulinath Goswami writes poetry in Bengali, his mother tongue, as well as in English. Writing is his escape, his meditation. Though primarily a poet, he writes prose as well and does translations in Bengali and English. He contributes regularly to the prominent magazines and periodicals of West Bengal, Bangladesh, and overseas. His collections of Bengali poems include Dayal, Kuashar Tukrora. His third book Memoir Of A Girl consists of English translations of Bengali poems of Jhelum Trivedi. He has a collection of Bengali short stories Paranbiler Maath to his credit. He was an invitee participant in the Multi-lingual Writers’ Meet organized by Bharat Bhawan, Bhopal in February 2020.

  1. Can you please cite the original poem ? Where to find it in Bangla?

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