Translations of my poems-02

6. തസ്സവ്വുര

ജമീന പര നഹീം

ഹവാ മേം നഹീം ഹൂം

പാനീ സേ പുരാനീ യാരീ ഹൈ

ജോ ഭീ ഹൈ

ഉസകീ സതഹ പര ചിത്രകാരീ ഹൈ

രോശനീ കാ ഹൈ ഉധാര

സൂരജ, ചാംദ, താരേ സാഹൂകാര

രംഗ കാ നാതാ സബസേ

ജോ ഘേരേ ഹൈം മുഝേ

കുഛ ഉന്ഹീ കാ പ്രതിബിമ്ബ ഹൂം

തരംഗ ബസ അപനീ ഹൈ

ഭീതര സേ ഉഠതേ ബുലബുലേ ഹൈ

ഹലചല അംതരംഗ ഹൈ...

***

6. Self-portrait

I am not earthbound

I am not completely ethereal

I have a longtime affection for water

And I like to create ripples

I am in debt of illumination

And the creditors are:

Sun, moon and stars without numbers

I am deeply imbued with colors

I mirror people around me

Only the impulse is mine

The stimulus arise from within

And I am my own muse...

***

7. ബുരാംശ

കരീനേ ലഗീ കോഈ ക്യാരീ

യാ സഹേജാ ഹുആ ബാഗ നഹീം ഹോഗാ യേ ദില

ജബ ഭീ ഹോഗാ ബുരാംശ കാ ഘനാ ദഹകതാ ജംഗല ഹോഗാ

ഫിര ഘേരേഗാ താപ

മനോ ബോഝ സേ ഫിര ഭാരീ ഹോംഗീ പലകേം

മുശ്കില ഹോഗാ ലേനാ സാംസ

മൈം കഹൂംഗീ നഹീ സുഹാതാ മുഝേ ബുരാംശ

നഹീ ചാഹിഏ പരാഗ

ഭാഗതീ ഫിരുംഗീ ബാഹര ബാഹര

ഏക ഛോര സേ ദൂസരേ ഛോര

ഫൈലതാ ഫൈലേഗാ ഹൌലേ ഹൌലേ

ധീമേം ധീമേം ഭീതര കിതനാ ഗഹരേ തക

ബുരാംശ ബുരാംശ...

***

7. Rhododendrons

My heart will never be a well tended bed of flowers

Or a skillfully pruned orchard /or a grove

But like a wild dense forest of blooming rhododendrons
At times red flames would surround me

My eyelids could weigh a ton

And breathing would be hard

I would say, “I don't fancy rhododendrons

I do not want the pollen”.

I am still wandering

From one corner of earth to another

But Rhododendrons are spreading within my heart

Gradually, softly, silently

O lovely rhododendrons!

Lovely rhododendron…

***

8. ധൂപ

പതഝഡ കേ ബാദ

ശഹര ഹുആ ഹൈ സലേടീ

സിയാഹ

രംഗ രോശനീ സേ മഹരൂമ

ആഹ, കിതനാ ഉദാസ

മഹീനോം മഹീനോം…

ഇസ ശഹര സരീഖേ കഈ ശഹര

സമയകാല സേ പരേ

സൂരജ കീ ആസ

ധൂപ കേ ഖ്വാബ മേം ഊംഘതേ ഹൈം

മഹീനോം മഹീനോം...

ബാരിശ, ബര്ഫ,ഔര ധുംധ കേ ബീച

ജോ ഖിലീ ആതീ ഹൈ ചടക ധൂപ കഭീ

കനപടിയാം തപതീ

ഖില ഉഠതീ രൂഹ

ധൂപ കാ നാമ ഹോതാ

ഖുശീ

ഹംസീ

ഉമ്മീദ...

***

8. Sunshine

After autumn when all trees are naked

This town has become grey and dark

deprived of colors, devoid of light

O! how sad

month after month

Like this town many others

since time beyond measure

in hope of sun

and dreaming sunshine are somnolent

for month after month

In the midst of rain, fog and snow

if sun shines even momentarily

my temples feel warmth

my soul blooms

and I name sunshine

happiness

laughter

hope...

***

English translation of my poems

(These translations were done with help of Prof. Tom Montgomery and I am very thankful to him)

1. My Share of Words

In a deep cavern of oblivion
I search for my share of alphabets
As if in flicker of a firefly
someone is struggling to create Zardozi craft*
I fumble:
which one a golden string
and which is a cotton thread?
I am entangled in a silken cobweb

In somnolence I wonder through the night
And ask an ancestral mother of three million years past:
How she weaved images into speech
How often she was at a loss of expression
And how often she created new words

Between dreams and wakefulness
I try to hear and decipher syllables
I try to describe images into speech
pursuing glimmers in the depth of memory
Often I falter
Sometimes I take wing
And in the process I decay
Bit by bit
Day by day.
********
*Zardozi (a very special embroidery done with gold string)

2. Corvallis Sky in Autumn

It’s early morning

In between the rising sun and setting moon

Chirping-trilling-honking flocks speedily go by like arrows

Astonishing the head of one below

As momentarily the sky is full of birds

The birds seems to inviting us

Lets go across these continents

Lets go across these oceans

Migration is a part of life

Not searching for a destination of a sort

But only fulfillment for an adventurous soul

Perhaps there is a thirst for unseen worlds

or hope of unforeseen possibility

This earth is still full of wonders

****

3. Flight

At first

The wings of mind beat

And an old saying emerges

“Look up and live”

The mind first falls into deep gorges

Before it attains height

And finally comes the flight

****

4. Looking Back

All of a sudden
A streak of bliss illuminates a dark canvas,
At the end of a narrow street
I catch a momentary glimpse of hope
Somewhere in a deep gorge
A suspension bridge swings briefly
Now and then I sniff fennel in the air
And deep in my mind Raga “Peelu” plays

A blithe eagle takes off in the wind
Gradually a partial rainbow forms
in the midst of drizzle
A little girl wishing for ripples
keeps dropping pebbles in a pond
Just now I see a fish go by

The memories come and go like a breeze
creating dunes
I randomly encounter
ephemeral tranquility
ephemeral turmoil
at odd times
in strange locales
******

5. Motherhood

A mother weaves a face, smiles

imagining a stranger taking shape inside her

the first petal of a lily unfurls

numerous sunflowers turn in chorus

And a monarch butterfly gently flaps her wings

A mother weaves a face, smiles

within her inner self

A small rivulet descends the side of a cliff

and flows toward unknown destiny

At the core of her soul the bond with humanity revitalizes

And the sense of shared existence imbibes in nectar

A mother, an immigrant, dark skinned woman

An outcast from the predetermined molds

is wandering in the midst of her time and claiming space

Escaping from hatred, malice, and baseness

somewhere in the New York of 2003

Hearing FOX, BBC, CNN

Hearing Freespeech, Zinn, Azeez, Arundhati

A mother weaves a face, smiles

Routinely falters hearing a sigh of another

And slowly whispers a prayer

“May life be possible, may life be beautiful

for everyone born from a mother’s womb”

A mother weaves a face, smiles

Within the father flows an unknown spring of care and caution

And wrapped within it the expectant mother counts her days.

***

Corporate Attack on Education, Chomsky