TRANSLATED FROM THE HINDI BY PADMAJA IYENGAR-PADDY

Lagta Nahi hai Dil Mera

My heart finds no connect with this barren land
Has anyone felt fulfilled in this ephemeral world

Nightingale resents neither the gardener nor the hunter
Her fate is that in the peak of spring, she is a prisoner

Tell these unfulfilled desires to go reside elsewhere
Where’s the space for them in this besmirched heart

I asked for a long life and received four days
Two passed away in desiring, two in waiting.

The days of life are gone, now is its evening
Fully stretched will I be to sleep in my tomb.

How unfortunate is “Zafar” that his final burial place
Couldn’t find in his beloved land, even two yards of space.

Na Kisi Ki Aankh ka Noor

Neither am I the light of anyone’s eyes
Nor am I the peace for any heart’s sighs
I am just that fistful of mud
Of no use to anyone, a dud

Neither am I anyone’s pal
Nor am I anyone’s rival
I am a destiny gone haywire
I am a place deserted entire

Disfigured is my appearance
Separated am I from friends
I am that garden’s spring-bloom
That’s ruined by autumn’s gloom

Why should anyone at my grave pray
Why should anyone on it flowers spray
Why should anyone on it a lamp light
For I am a tomb of such a blight

Also read three Bengali poems by Tanushree Bag, translated into English by Moulinath Goswami, and published in The Antonym:

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