Poems and Perspectives: Samya Karpha

Samya Karpha, completed his MSc in Chemistry from Calcutta University. However, his love for Bengali language and literature inspired him to take up the job of a journalist with Ananda Bazar Patrika, Kolkata. He is a student of Shrimati Bratati Bandopadhyay, who is a well-known elocutionist in Bengali. Samya recites here the iconic poem “Banalata Sen” by the modernist Bengali poet, Jibanananda Das. We include the first stanza of the two English versions of the lyrics which Samya recites in Bengali, for those who are not familiar with the language. We could not include the entire poem in English translation for copyright issues. A comparative analysis of the English versions of the first stanza of the poem along with Samya’s recitation in the original poem, could be an interesting study of aesthetics of presentation and linguistic translations. The music of the emotion in the presentation, with a Tagore number in the backdrop, - “Roopey tomay bholabo na/ Bhalobashai bholabo” (I shall not entice you in my beauty but love”), in Sounak Chattopadhyay’s voice with musical accompaniment, blends well with the mood of the poem.

At the end of a long day, with the soft sound of dew,

Night falls; the kite wipes the sun's smells from its wings;

The world's colours fade; fireflies light up the world anew;

Time to wrap up work and get set for the telling of tales;

All birds home - rivers too - life's transactions close again;

What remains is darkness and facing me - Banalata Sen!

(Fakrul Alam 1999)

At the end of all the days, dusk comes like the sound of dew;

The kite wipes off the scent of sunlight from its wings.

The earth’s colours all quenched, the manuscript prepares

To tell its stories, lit by firefly gleams.

All the birds come home, all the rivers - all life’s trade ends.