The Speechless Revolution
The poem “The Speechless Revolution,” a transcreation of Mohan Rana’s “Kaal Chakra,” explores themes of time, identity, and existence. The speaker reflects on their elusive self and the rapid passage of time, while contemplating the cyclical nature of life, as new souls are born unnoticed in the cosmic expanse.
Love Remains as a Draft in the Drawer
The poem “Love Remains as a Draft in the Drawer,” translated from Mohan Rana’s work, explores the complexities and risks of love, likening it to an unwritten contract filled with unfulfilled promises. Despite the deep personal investment, love remains unexpressed, highlighting the paradox of desire and absence.
Sun in the Plasters
The poem depicts a vivid scene where a man navigates a sunlit city, symbolized by a red wall and the sound of sandals on hot tar. Elements like burlap moons and the continuous rhythm of life highlight the struggles and small joys, evoking a sense of weariness and resilience in a bustling environment.
Tastes
In a small city, a couple navigates their relationship through everyday interactions that evoke tenderness and familiarity. Their shared experiences, from cooking to literary exchanges, create a unique bond. As they explore their domestic lives and each other’s quirks, they find solace and connection, ultimately forging a secret home through love and understanding.
The Mausoleum Can’t Go into Mourning | A Transcreation from a Ghazal by Gulzar
The poem explores themes of sorrow and longing, comparing tears to mourning fountains and questioning if those in love experience true grief. It suggests that even natural elements, like thorns, sacrifice for love, while the speaker feels a sense of despair, identifying as unworthy amidst such profound emotions.
The Pain is Mild | A Transcreation from a Ghazal by Gulzar
The poem reflects on pain and lingering memories after loss, capturing a continued connection with the past. As night falls, the speaker acknowledges the interplay of heartache and healing, blending personal experiences with fictional elements. Emotions intertwine as they honor shared stories, bridging yesterday’s narratives with today’s sentiments.
Ghazal for the Nameless | #2
At such an age, Aaftaab has descended from its throne; Its light decrees not winter’s passion; just the crackle of brittle old bones.
A Song On the Beginning of the World
In a winter morning tea stall, a tea-seller ignites the day’s first brew amidst contrasting scenes of a dentist’s parlor and a temple. A senior reminisces about Venezuela while a younger man reads absurd news involving Trump. The atmosphere merges discussions of life, faith, and a barking dog, signifying shared narratives.
Tonight | A Ghazal for Agha Shahid Ali
A ferocious, syncretic lyric of exile and accusation: wine, ashes, and pashminas fold memory into ritual. Blasphemy, betrayal, and mercy collide amid ruined temples, stained casements, and hunted prophets. The speaker’s barred faith and smoldering longing summon ghosts, judgment, and a final, elegiac defiance. Haunting, intimate, politicized, mordant, ritual, relentless.
Ghazal for the Nameless
The ghazal explores themes of disillusionment and loss. The speaker critiques superficial connections and the ineffectiveness of various societal roles, from poetry to nursing. References to historical figures and cultural symbols illuminate a deeper sense of yearning and abandonment, suggesting that despite appearances, many cherished things are ultimately unfulfilled or inadequate.
The Lone Scion of Corleone
The poem portrays a struggle between innocence and fate, using imagery of dark, sensitive eyes foreseeing a grim destiny. Despite awareness, there is a strong resolve to rise again, drawing strength from nature. The metaphors emphasize resilience against superficiality, with a connection to mysticism and legacy, invoking themes of defiance and renewal.
Parasnath
The narrator reflects on a nostalgic train journey back to Jharkhand, evoking memories of a past trip with his father. The journey underscores the passage of time, with the sacred hill Parasnath symbolizing spiritual significance. Amidst daily labor, the narrator feels a profound connection to history and the sacred landscape.
Cafe Samovar, Bombay: Small Talks of Large Dreams (a Poem Inspired by Basu Chatterjee’s Film, Chhoti Si Baat)
The poem reflects the ambiance of a café in Basu Chatterjee’s Chhoti Si Baat, blending imagery of an afternoon with experiences of diners and the city. It encapsulates moments of silence, romance, and nostalgia, portraying the complexities of modern life intertwined with memories, like fleeting impressions captured by a camera.
Translations from Gitabitan | #1 | কান্নাহাসির-দোল-দোলানো পৌষ-ফাগুনের পালা | Winter and Spring Swing on Laughter and Sighs
The poem explores the emotional transitions between winter and spring, conveying a longing for peace and resolution amid turmoil. It reflects on the struggle to find solace in music while grappling with the chaos of life. The refrain highlights the destiny of being enveloped in melodies as a means of comfort.
A Fleeting Shelter
The poem reflects on love’s traumas symbolized by an inflamed moon, evoking memories of beauty and tenderness amidst pain. It encourages embracing the neglected and unappreciated, suggesting solace found in the kindness of strangers. The imagery intertwines nature, memory, and human connection, ultimately promoting care and compassion for oneself.
Haiku #1
Daylit kites resignA citrus-moon preens thinRinds of cold starlight
Your Mind’s Alchemy
The essence of the message emphasizes that one’s mental transformation and perception during challenging experiences holds greater significance than the actions of others. It suggests focusing on personal resilience and growth rather than the negative impacts of external events. Ultimately, your mindset shapes the significance of your experiences.
The Price of Immortality
The poem reflects on the nature of value, urging to measure debts in time rather than money. It suggests that dreams clash with the world’s permanence and that mirrors may not always reflect satisfaction. Ultimately, it asserts that suffering is necessary for true wisdom and the pursuit of eternal significance.
A Scholar’s Study
In a timeless space, a solitary figure sketches coastal scenes, reflecting on loneliness and collective memories. He charts historical pains and human struggles, using ink as both penance and salvation. His introspective habit connects him to distant neighbors, offering a glimpse of grace amid life’s tumultuous storms.
The Grammar of a River
The poem reflects a somber atmosphere, exploring themes of stagnation and memory through vivid imagery of the river, boats, and a distant bridge. Elements like the gray sky and ash-like punctuation articulate a sense of longing and silence, where past moments linger, coupled with an underlying quest for meaning amidst decay.
To a Polymath (A Poem for Robert Edwards)
The piece reflects on Sir Robert Edwards’ contributions to in vitro fertilization, celebrating his unique blend of compassion and intellect. It portrays him as a quiet visionary whose efforts nurtured life, emphasizing his ethical principles and legacy, which endure despite lacking widespread recognition. His impact enables others to explore new possibilities.
Still I Soar
You may write me down in historyWith your bitter, twisted lies,You may trod me in the very dirtBut still, like dust, I’ll rise.(‘Still I Rise,’ Maya Angelou) Write me with your counterfeit verdicts,Bury me with falsehoods under the floor,Seal me alive with the broken things,But from the hollow, like wind, I’ll soar. Does my surefooted…
Me, Too
The poem conveys a powerful message of resilience and transformation in the face of deceit. The speaker rejects violence, choosing instead to illuminate truths and reveal hidden betrayals through artful expression. Ultimately, forgiveness becomes the speaker’s form of strength, revealing that silence can speak louder than lies.
Deity of Justice
The poem explores the metallic sculpture ‘The Goddess of Justice’ at the Constitution Museum. It personifies justice through imagery of bronze, chains, and gears, illustrating her strength and complexity. Her scales reflect truth, and her presence embodies both authority and fragility, signaling the intricacies of moral judgment.
Kakul
The poem reflects on the grief experienced after a colleague’s sudden death, contrasting the sorrow of those left behind with the light of the departed. It evokes memories of shared humanity and the longing for connection through imagery of nature and ritual, ultimately celebrating the impact of the lost individual on their lives.
Vietnam Coffee
The poem explores Vietnam’s coffee history through vivid imagery and metaphor, linking it to colonialism and war. It evokes the essence of coffee culture, reflecting on shared experiences, loss, and resilience. The narrative captures both the beauty and bitterness intertwined in Vietnam’s beverage heritage, emphasizing its significance in the country’s identity.
Today I Cannot Write a Poem (or a Sonnet Written in 9 Minutes)
The poet reflects on personal growth and renewal through the process of writing a sonnet. As they soak peas today, they anticipate tomorrow’s potential and the joys that may arise. Despite external judgment, the act of writing serves as a genuine self-exploration, revealing truths that a mirror cannot show.
The Lost Land of Gondwana
The poem intricately describes the geological and cultural history of Gondwana, a land shaped by natural forces and human intervention. It evokes images of ancient landscapes, the intertwining of myths and identities, and the ongoing dialogue between the earth and its inhabitants, highlighting the transformative power of time and memory in shaping civilization.
The Railway Bookseller
The passage depicts a train journey where a bookseller interacts with passengers, reflecting on their diverse attitudes towards books. The scene captures moments of curiosity, indifference, and longing, emphasizing the bookseller’s humble life and the weight of material and emotional burdens he carries, as well as the transient connections formed during travel.
The Immortal Fossil of a Poem
The poem explores the intersection of science, language, and existence, illustrating how words and meanings evolve into biological forms over time. It presents a world where life consists of bacteria outlasting human expression, suggesting that permanence resides in the natural world rather than in written language or contemporary culture.
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Arup K. Chatterjee 