Adorer Nouko | The Pleasure Boat

The pleasure boat sails by 

You wake up in Kolkata 

As the street lamps assign hues to raindrops

The beggars escape 

In dreams of a moonlit snowy landscape 

Your beloved roads are washed anew

Flooding the edges of your comfort

As a solitary raindrop quietly

Awakes on your railing

May the injured lonely crow 

Be by the wayside tomorrow 

The trains of this city seek

Water nymphs in the dusty wind

Painting the wind on their wings 

Wisps of hair like urban gossamer

Waft far away 

The pleasure boat sails away

Floats away the keel of caresses 

And the shy cigarette butts 

Learn to bathe

Careless heaps of sand on the street

Stand guard where the fireflies meet

The trains of this city seek

Water nymphs in the dusty wind

Painting the wind on their wings 

Wisps of hair like urban gossamer 

Waft far away 

The pleasure boat sails by 

You wake up in Kolkata 

As the street lamps assign hues to raindrops

The beggars escape 

In dreams of a moonlit snowy landscape 

Bengali Lyrics: Chandril Bhattacharya 

Composed By: Upal Ganguly 

Band: Chandrabindoo

Album: Chaw

Singer: Sona 

Translated By: Samarpan Dutta

Mirror-Town

I live close to a Mirror-town

And there lives my neighbour

Can’t say that I have met them ever

Even for a day, did I meet them ever



The infinite waters that hug their village

Have no end in sight or a boat on shore

And I long to meet them, see their face

But how do I ever ever reach that place



Can’t say that I have met them ever

Even for a day, did I meet them ever



I live close to a Mirror-town

And there lives my neighbour

Can’t say that I have met them ever

Even for a day, did I meet them ever



How do I begin to describe my neighbour

I see no hands, feet, head or a shoulder

Now they glide across the ether

And then float on the water



Can’t say that I have met them ever

Even for a day, did I meet them ever



If only my neighbour would touch me

It’d drive away death and pain

Sam and they are fused together

And yet are a million miles asunder



I live close to a Mirror-town

Where lives my neighbour

Can’t say that I met them ever

Even for a day, did I met them ever




an attempt at translating Arshinagar by Lalon Fakir

Listen to this beautiful rendition Arshinagar by Sahana Bajpaie on Youtube

প্রিয় গান এবং…

কৈশোরের প্রিয় প্রেমের গানের সুর,

বিষাদে ভেজা বালিশের স্মৃতি

আর আবছা হয়ে আসা মুখেদের ভীড় ঠেলে,

হঠাৎ আঁকড়ে ধরে 

এই পড়ন্ত শীতের রাতে ।

এক যুগ, নাকি দুই দশক পেড়িয়ে

একে একে উঁকি দেয় রাত-জাগা তারারা।

জেগে আছো আজও, একা? 

কল্পনার আকিবুকি, সেই নকশি কাঁথার মাঠ

পেরিয়ে বুঝি যাওনি কোথাও?

বন্ধু, ভাল আছ তো? 

মুঠোয় বন্দি সময় নিয়ে, সেই যে 

বলেছিলে চলে যাবে সব বেঁড়াজাল ছিঁড়ে 

অজানা কক্ষপথে উড়ে যাবে শুধু

কেনো এক নাম-না-জানা নভ্শচরের মত

নিজের ভিতরের ছায়াপথ খুঁজে? 

তবে কি যাওনি কোথাও তুমি! 

নাকি অচেনা গ্রহপথ, নদী নালা 

পড়ন্ত বিকেলের সবুজ মাঠের ঘাসে,

সোনালি আলোয় ভাসছে তোমার মহাকাশযান 

বসন্তের নিষ্পাপ ভোরের মত 

নতুন এক দিনের অপেক্ষায়?  

The Disrupted Gaggle (Sangbighno Pakhhikul - Mohiner Ghoraguli)

The runway stretches ahead in loneliness 

While the clouds hang stupefied in the sky

In the pain-ridden stupor of the lazy radar

A gaggle of chirping birds fly by

It’s been years since a soaring airplane 

Touched down in this vacuous aerodrome 

Strewn with litter and garbage, while the winds

Howl past the absent wings spread wide 

A little girl with her hair caught in the wind

Sobs with her face hidden in her frock

The poet has seen this picture, that’s why 

Floating clouds line his empty heart 

The picture imprinted on his mind 

Fills the poet with worry and care

Potent with the signs of an impending storm

The clouds lie stupefied on the sky  

(Translated by Samarpan Dutta)

Samson (Anjan Dutt)

Neon signs flicker their wares

The rains have drenched the streets

A damp heart still beats 

Like clockwork the last tram brings

Them home—Samson and his saxophone 

A rickety flight of stairs in a dank back alley

Leads to his dilapidated attic room 

A bed stained with cheap liquor

That has washed away their youth 

Samson and his saxophone 

So many Samsons die every day

Killed in a quiet corner of a shiny hotel

This busy metropolis puts an end

To so many songs even before they’re sung

There had been a Delilah too 

A bliss that was over too soon  

Someone stole her away

From Samson and his saxophone

His crucified savior stuck on a torn calendar

Samson too finds himself sentenced 

To a lifetime of churning out 

The same old film songs

So many Samsons die every day

Killed in a quiet corner of a shiny hotel

This busy metropolis puts an end

To so many songs even before they’re sung

Delilah isn’t coming back 

To save him from this hell

They’ll rot in the corners of 

This shiny five-star hotel

Samson and his friend, the saxophone 

Countless melodies trapped in those old lungs

That none will ever hear

But the weary moon waking up from its

Slumber to that old saxophone

Baring it’s heart out in pain

So many Samsons die every day

Killed in a quiet corner of a shiny hotel

This busy metropolis puts an end

To so many songs even before they’re sung

Original Song by the artist:

Cycling

Pushing the pedals forward

To stream past the houses, trees, and

The memories that lay hidden

In every corner of my little town

I fell in love with cycling.

My face glistening with sweat and

Eyes shining with the joy

Of suburban independence 

I set out charting my small world

A  little explorer.

Maps were formed by the sightings of 

Friends, foes, or abandoned 

Houses with promises of treasure 

Or some murky past that

Lay waiting for me to uncover.

I charted my rides through lonely 

Streets that lay inviting--

Avenues measured in dim streetlamps

And littered with flowers

All pointing me towards home.

For home wasn't a just single place

The lines on the map of my world

Traced a home wherever

It found joy, wonder, or the warmth

Of a familiar 

Place that helped me grow up a little

With every discovery

Someday, on a rainy evening (Ek Din Brishti Te by Anjan Dutt)

Someday, on a rainy evening 
We’d both forget our umbrellas 
And bump into each other 
Drenched from head to toe
While the traffic vanishes around us
Storefronts down their shutters
Lingering in our heart of hearts
The sweet smell of petrichor

Someday, on a rainy evening 
It’ll all certainly come back to us in a jiffy
Broken promises and forgotten blemishes
Pain that’s sweet and dear
While somewhere a lonely radio
Chimes an old love song
Raindrops slowly turn blue 
Against a greying sky
Someday, someday… 
Someday, on a rainy evening…

A fading poster proudly announces
An old sold-out matinee
And the raindrops will hide
Our tears
Pittar patter…pittar patter…
raindrops…tears

Someday, on a rainy evening 
We’ll finally get caught, you’ll see
Fears, tears, and unspoken despair
Finally washed clean
The moment frozen in time
We won’t be able to run and hide
The roads will all be the same
Just the two of us around…

Someday, on a rainy evening 
We’d both forget our umbrellas 
And bump into each other 
Drenched from head to toe
While the traffic vanishes around us
Storefronts down their shutters
Lingering in our heart of hearts
The sweet smell of petrichor

Someday…someday…
Someday…on a rainy evening…

(Translated by Samarpan Dutta)