By Nirmalprabha Bordoloi

If somehow the smell of the wintry fields
Reaches my nose
I recover my father

In the fragrance of the gamosa 
Laid open from its folds in the shop
I recover my mother

For my children
Where shall I leave myself,
Where?

Translated by Krishna Dulal Barua

Nirmalprabha Bordoloi (b.1933-d.2004) was an Indian poet, lyricist and folklorist 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.

By Navakanta Barua

Now, just now I have set me on fire
Burnt up my ancient wings 
Wings I could not fly with anymore 
But only flapped the wind—the wind
And aroused mockery and despair

I have set my backbone, thousand years old, aflame
Whence sprang forth countless branches of brittle bones 
The fluid in their marrow dried up.

I have set my ancient heart on fire
Stuck in stasis
Like clock hands standing still
In an eternally meaningless present.

Burnt up my obsolete wisdom
Buried in the bulk of my inert pride.
Ah! My age-old body-sap enmeshed in the senses
Is burning 
With an ecstasy of self-annihilating delight!

With the letters in my own funeral ashes, I thought,
The name of my father would be scripted on water
I thought the funeral ashes would nurture 
the dream harvest of future.
I didn't know that it was only me who fathered myself
I didn't know that it was only me who was born of myself.

In a strange flare of light
 I had a glimpse of my funeral pyre 
Shadow of my father
In the cool touch of strange death
 I could feel the warmth of my fuel
My offspring
My blood
I was born
I was born.

Translated by Dr Pori Hiloidari

Navakanta Barua (b.1926-d.2002) was a noted Assamese poet, novelist and translator.

Dr. Pori Hiloidari is a critic and award winning translator of Assam. She teaches English in Handiqui Girls’ College, Panbazar, Guwahati.

Click here to read the original Assamese poem.

Hiren Bhattacharya

Hours before I'd a few glasses of liquor
The inebriation hasn't died down altogether
Perhaps in this way
The entire night will pass over

Sometimes I drink in this way!
And its inebriation shifts me to the serene woods of my mind
Where
I converse with myself
About issues never conferred with anyone before

How pleasant are these nights!
Where the puffed paddy of words burst*
Among stars in the azure sky
The river of my heart cleanses
The wholesome body of the night
With its cool mellifluous water



...............
* puffed paddy of words burst : distinct articulation of words (Assamese idiom)

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.

By Hem Barua

Here is our grandmother, eighty years old.
Ignoring the scorching mid-day sun during summer 
And the devastating flood
Ignoring winter cold alike
She moves on with her flowing grey hair like jute.

I met her and asked her,
"What have you been looking for, Aita 
Bending over your stick
And scrutinizing the ground?"

Aita looked up to me
Raising her pale eyes 
And told me one thing,
"You will not understand my dear.
I am looking for the lost twenty years of my youth and dreams 
Wondering if it perished in the dust of the road."

Translated by Ananda Bormudoi

Hem Barua (b.1915-d.1977) was a noted Assamese poet and politician.

Please click here to read the original Assamese poem.

By Lakshminath Bezbaroa

O Friend, what shall I talk of my woes
Poison came out in churning nectar
The sweet honey turned bitter

I wore a jasmine wreath on my bun
Its petals fell off
I kept the bird in a gold cage
That too flew off

At dusk a togar bud blossomed
When the evening breeze sighed
Seen by none smelt by none
That too wilted and died

Translated by Nirendra Nath Thakuria

Lakshmiath Bezbaroa (b. 1864-d. 1938) was a renowned poet, novelist, playwright and satirist of Assam.

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

Click here to read the original Assamese poem.

Durgeswar Sarma

There, the car brakes beside the gateway
And awaits in unrest.
The one inside the car shouts,
Are you ready?
Come on, hurry up, don't delay.
It's a long long way
Even if we keep going all through the night
We'll reach there only in the morning.
You don't need to pack any luggage
You needn't carry a thing
Once you reach there, you'll have everyone
Ready to fulfill your needs.
This house will remain stuck here
Where you'll never return;
Time shall wear it down to bits
Leaving not the faintest trace.
You'll clamber over one house to another
Abandoning one after the other
A country of your own lies in some other land
You're languishing here in peril.

Translated by Krishna Dulal Barua

Durgeswar Sarma (b.1882-d.1961) was an Assamese poet and playwright.

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 Nalinibala Devi

O' wayfarer of the unknown road!
Along which way had you come in search of a route?
You've lost the very course of the unfamiliar road.
Whose unheard voice had you heard?
Behind the shroud of the monsoon clouds
The gloomy streaks of the full moon today;
In the glum canvas of laughter and tears
What have you caught sight of 
Unseen before?
In the distant blue sky of autumn
The moon doesn't gleam with its pleasant smile.
Behind the veil of clouds
The pale moon's forlorn smile surfaces.
Piercing the night's darkness
Glows a flame of light afar—
O' wayfarer of the dark road!
Can you now behold the route?

Translated by Krishna Dulal Barua

Nalinibala Devi (b. 1998-d.1977) was an Assamese poet known for her mystical poetry.

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.

Anandachandra Barua

Sneaking beneath the lips
Keep peering with utmost stealth,
Beholding a black mole,
Leap into a dance
With a mind beaming with smiles.
Why so avid? I can't make you understand;
After all, I myself am clueless,
Would beauty land me a kiss?

Translated by Krishna Dulal Barua

Click here to read Assamese original poem

Anandachandra Barua (b.1907-d.1983) was a noted poet and playwright of Assam.

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

By Jatindra Nath Duwara

True, everything lies as before
Yet something seems amiss,
The frenzied winds of the past
Has blown it away by some way.
Does the melody sound still
Quivering the leas of Assam?

Is that melody still heard
Upon the wide bosom of the Luit?
Who has robbed me today 
Of the blissful dreams of youth?
Who has laid his cruel hands
On the strings of my endearing veena?

The fallen leaves come flying to say
There's no space on the laps of trees
The boatman with a heavy heart
Listlessly oars away downstream.

Translated by Krishna Dulal Barua

Jatindra Nath Duwara (b.1892-d.1964) was a notable Assamese poet.

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.

Composed by Sri Sri Sankardev

O my mind, none but Rama is the Saviour from sin
the nectar of Paramananda’s lotus feet drink in

No penance, no pilgrimage, no sacrifice, no meditation
No mantra, no ritual pieties can bring us salvation

Mother father wife children and all kin will die
O blind mind, leave these thoughts and at Hari’s feet lie

Says Sankara, slave of Krishna, shed all worldly worries
Take refuge at Rama’s feet, and sing Govinda’s glories

Click here to read the original Assamese poem.

Translated by Nirendra Nath Thakuria

Sri Sri Sankardev (1449-1568) was a 15-16^th Century Indian Saint-Scholar, social and religious reformer, poet, playwright and musician of Assam. Borgeet or Songs Celestial is a tradition of raga and tala based Assamese song developed by Sri Sri Sankardev and Sri Sri Madhavdev, another Indian Saint-Scholar, poet of Assam.

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