Ajit Barua

I've to finish writing
Before my departure
About certain issues through some other issues
About certain issues
Through the artifice of presenting some other issues
Before my heart stiffens
Before the moss of amnesia enters my mind
I've to finish writing
Before my departure. Because
Therein I see the one who keeps beckoning me
Where the Brahmaputra river meets the sky
Turning into a whitened hue, turning into the thunder of clouds
Turning into the stillness after a storm
In the extreme west where a flock of crows freezes in flight 

I'm not prepared. I haven't
Brought the map of Kamrup with me
If summoned for an explanation, I've no deposition to show
(In the middle of the Dwaipayan lake, boundary-stakes are fixed during moments of weakness : 
Why, after being acquainted with my creed, I remain
Aloof from it !)
Before my last breath I seek
To write about my apathy for truth
(Supreme truth is perceived only in absoluteness)

Translated by Krishna Dulal Barua

Ajit Barua was a modern Assamese poet, novelist, essayist and translator.

Krishna Dulal Barua is a prominent translator and writer based in Nagaon, Assam. He received the Katha Award for translation in 2005.

Click here for the original Assamese poem.

By Sri Sri Madhavdev

I am ignorant of the ignorant my lord 
I know not how I can adore you best. 
Unholy desires are so strong my lord Ram
They never let me alone.
Your maya has fascinated my mind my lord Ram
Sprawling in the dark I find no way out.
Your feet alone can offer shelter and I submit to them
I sing your praise seeking light, my lord Ram.
I know not how to worship, exalt and love you intensely 
None else is more ignorant than I am, my lord Ram.
You are an ocean of kindness, my lord Hari
Shelter me in the shade of your feet. 
Hari is the ocean of love, the friend of all lives
He is motion, consciousness and lord Narayan. 
Singing Your praise is the greatest treasure of the bhaktas.

Translated by Ananda Bormudoi

Sri Sri Madhavdev (b.1489–d.1596) was a 15th–16th century Assamese poet, playwright, musician and social-religious reformer.

Click for the original Assamese text.

by Hemanga Kumar Dutta

Have a good look at the corpses

Identify the near and dear ones of yore
No no
      Not at all for retrieval
Identify them today to lose them in a better way

While the bomb was planted
Though none of the living ones were familiar
Now before taking them home
Identify the corpses

Translated by Krishna Dulal Barua

Hemanga Kumar Dutta is an Assamese poet. He has one collection of poems to his credit.

Krishna Dulal Barua is a prominent translator and writer based in Nagaon, Assam. He received the Katha Award for translation in 2005.

Click here to read the original Assamese poem.

By Hiren Bhattacharya

You know only too well
This poet has nothing else anymore.
Just a lone shirt
that too with precarious stitches.
Love surely is like this
Opens up the covering
to fill the heart.

Translated by Uttam Duorah

Hiren Bhattacharya (b.1932-d.2012) was an Assamese poet and lyricist best known for his lyric poems.

Uttam Duorah, the translator, retired as the HoD, English, Women’s College, Tinsukia and is based in Tinsukia, Assam.

Click here for the original Assamese poem.

By Jyotiprasad Agarwala

Star-spangled is the Luit's sky
The Dipawali of my blood on its banks
Mother, shed no tears
The lamp of blood is lit on the sacred altar
By your sons and daughters

The flame ignited during the days of Lachit
Is yet to extinguish, O' mother
The wick burns with spurts of blaze
With fresher and newer blood

Douse not the fire with your gushing tears
Let the grim darkness melt away
Star-spangled is the Luit's sky
The Dipawali of my blood on its banks


...........................
* Luit : another name of the Brahmaputra river
* Dipawali : festival of light

Translated by Krishna Dulal Barua

Jyotiprasad Agarwala (b.1903-d.1951) was a noted poet, songwriter, playwright, filmmaker and freedom fighter of Assam.

Krishna Dulal Barua is a prominent translator and writer based in Nagaon, Assam. He received the Katha Award for translation in 2005.

Click here to read the original Assamese poem.

Hiren Bhattacharya

In his blood
Stars sparkled
In his heart
Bees hummed
He lies in slumber 
Quiet and still. 

At the head of his bed
Blood-rinsed earth.

Translated by Krishna Dulal Barua

Hiren Bhattacharya (b.1932-d.2012) was an Assamese poet and lyricist best known for his lyric poems.

Krishna Dulal Barua is a prominent translator and writer based in Nagaon, Assam. He received the Katha Award for translation in 2005.

Click here to read the original Assamese poem.

Nalinidhar Bhattacharya

Helpless as a deer stuck in silt
Harrowed by hunger and thirst
He is now an angry boy.

He is waiting for the Bordoichila
Now every tree in the woods plays in unison
The Kichaka flutes of freedom.

…………………….
Bordoichila: Pre-monsoon storm in Assam.
Kichaka: A variety of bamboo.

Translated by Krishna Dulal Barua

Nalinidhar Bhattacharya (b. 1921-d.2016) was a noted poet and critic of Assam.

Click here to read the original Assamese poem.

By Govinda Das

Ghosha:  O’ Soul Govinda Gopala
                   You’ve set, O my Kind-Heart, the game of Maya

Pada :      A house was made with care and hope for the living
                  That house was blown away while it was storming
                  O Mind, make the house and fasten the door
                  Leaving your home the others’ you cry for 
                  Rafters are set in rows for the ridge two beams fixed
                  Twenty posts in all are firmly pitched
                  It is dark for walls raised on all four sides
                  Nine doors are fastened on all nine sides
                  At nine points are nine sentries on guard 
                  Within is sitting Hari, the all-cheering God
                 There is a woman that house to manage
                 One who stays away from her is a great sage
                 And there is a river that flows so fast
                 Across two birds Time and Timeless stay perched
                That pair of purple birds with the bluish-black wings
                 Have never ever come across as hatchlings
                 The swan has flown away leaving behind its feathers
                 On the sands of the Jamuna that body also weathers
                 Says this the slave Govinda again and again 
                 But the feet of the Guru no ways remain

Translated by Nirendra Nath Thakuria

Govinda Das, an Assamese poet of the 18th century.

Nirendra Nath Thakuria, retired Associate Professor of English, is a translator.

Click here for the original Assamese poem.

By Jatindra Kumar Borgohain

At the end of a long night
A terrible day dawns.
The sun descends.
Light spreads terror.
The unforgettable dawn
The wings of fear
In the heart of a dream.

Translated by Ananda Bormudoi

Jatindra Kumar Borgohain (b. 1950-d.2013) was an Assamese poet, author, journalist and social activist.

Click here for the original Assamese poem.

By Jyotiprasad Agarwala

Know I know I know
Nothing goes in vain, my song too
All my drops of tear
Merging with the shrine water
Will gleam on the worshipper 
In every cell of him.

Know I know I know
All my songs are so novel
Smell like lotuses in bloom
I know I know
They'll wake the world's soul.

That morning star lonely yonder
Lost in the song of its own
Sets in the lap of dawn
Giving its smile in the glow
Know I know I know
Nothing goes in vain, its song too.

Wake up in novel rhythm
All lotus words mute in charm
Gather in chorus in countless voices
Wake up honeyed melody in ecstasy.

Translated by Nirendra Nath Thakuria

Jyotiprasad Agarwala (b.1903-d.1951) was a noted poet, songwriter, playwright, filmmaker and freedom fighter of Assam.

Nirendra Nath Thakuria, retired Associate Professor of English, is a translator.

Click here to read the original Assamese poem.