Issue: Vol. IV, No. 3, November-January, 2025-26
The River in Memory
Mukuta’s heart is filled with love
She is all agog for love and care
She was born at the bottom of an ocean
The music of the seven seas
Resonates in the region of her mind
I took her one day
Along the path we deserted long ago
She suddenly started and asked
Was this the way?
This huge tree we had never seen
Neither did we take a rest under its shade
And the river?
Is it still flowing along?
She proposed to go ahead
But to where?
Let us go
It doesn’t matter if we don’t find the river
The river in memory is forever flowing
And we shall find it out
We shall rest for a while in its bank.
Anxiety of God
It was midnight
Untimely rain continued outside
With occasional thunder
The situation was terrible.
The wind was whirling
And I got scared,
Became sleepless
And then the door burst open.
Thoroughly drenched in the rain
With a pitiable look
God Himself stood before me.
Hair all a mat
And wielding a trident
God in my front
The fruit of my great piety!
I was overwhelmed by fear and respect
Bowed down on all four
And then stood aside
Ready to obey a command.
And then He said,
“Do you or do you not know
That there was a lotus pond
Stretching from your gate
Lotus bloomed so brightly
They called it a lake.
Wild geese arrived at dawn
Swam in the lake cheerfully
Their cackles could be heard at a distance.
The water god tells me himself
The lake existed
Where you now have
Your buildings and flower gardens.
It was good that you built houses
And raised gardens.
But why did you fill in the lake
Cutting the hill?
Where did you drive away the flock of wild goose?
God was unmistakably unhappy
And He said goodbye.
Your deeds are now incomprehensible
You defy all authority.”
I stood dumbfounded.
Translated by Ananda Bormudoi
Dr. Farida Ahmed is a poet and former Professor of Anthropology in Dibrugarh University. She has two collections of poems to her credit.