Ashaye Benche Thaka

Ek tuku shukh , ektu khani hashi
Shunte chaowa, ‘ami tomake bhalobashi’
Hanta pothey kal pawoa karor shongo,
Shei daily routine k ekdin kora bhongo

Ei tuku  ashaye benche thaka…

Ghuri hoye akaash chuiye jawoa
Buke mukto lukiye rakha jhinuk howa
Tarar niche ek raat shuye thaka,
Shankhe kaan patle shei dheu-er daka

Ar ki chai benche thakte…

Shiter roder ushnotaye ekbar snaan
Brishtir jole lukiye fela kichu abhiman
Ektu jeta ektu hara niye shesh kora khela
Rongin durbin diye duniya dekhe fela

Aladiner prodip nei amar kache,

Tai shudhu ashaye benche thaka…

Feriwala shono toh....

Hankcho na toh tumi, dakcho-o na je tumi

Just beriye jaccho amaar janlar shamner poth dhore

Ooooo feriwala, shono toh..

Ache ki tomar kache amaar harano chelbelata?

Iskool-er shei prothom dinta?

Pabo ki Tomar kache hariye jaowa bondhuder ke?
Babar kandher shinghashon, ar babari belt-er maar?
Ditey parbey, amaaye mayer hath dhore hanta shekhar anubhuti?

E shob je ar paina kothao!!

Pabo ki unchu heel juto porar shei prothom khushi ta?

Prothom shei 'concert' e chool jhankabar anando ta?

Fire pabo ki tomar kache prothom proposal-er shei prothom gorbo ta?

Prothom oi laal kolom-e 'fail' lekha dekhar atanko ta?

Ditey parbe, 'Ebar kintu HS HS' kore para mashi-r kanduni gaowa gaan!!

Ei shob je ami hariye felechi kothao!!

Hankcho na toh tumi, dakcho-o na je tumi

Just beriye jaccho amaar janlar shamner poth dhore

Ooooo feriwala shono toh...

Prothom college bunk kore cinema dekhar oi 'thrill'ta?

Ditey parbey, harano bondhuder shathey addar oi din gulo?
Prothom oshofol premer oi prothom dukkher kobita lekha-ta?

Ache ki tomar jhuli-te oi prothom cigaretter abcha dhuan ta?
Oi prothom guitar dhore angul roktakto kora ta?

Ei shob je amaar bhishon money porey!!

Hankcho na toh tumi, dakcho-o na je tumi

Just beriye jaccho amaar janlarshamner poth dhore

Ooooo feriwala bolo na...

Hobi jedin amaar bondhu...

Takiye achish amaar ei mukher dike...
Shanto, niriho, snigdho!

Thoke jashney ei  sneher murti dekhe
ja dekhchish ta je moteo shotyo noye!!

Hosh Jodi bondhu amaar ekbaar
Dekhbi tui amaar ashol chehara ta!

Bondhu.... 

Porey achi eije ami mukhosh-ta
Khuley felishney tui – tui parbi na
Ei , tui bujhe ja!!
Mithye  porichoy dewowa amaar porichoy

Hosh Jodi bondhu amaar ekbaar
Dekhbi tui amaar ashol chehara ta!

Jedin bohu porot chariye tui gobhire dekhbi
Dekhe Jodi shedino bhalo amaye bashish
Shedino Jodi ‘sakhi’ boley amaye dakish
Hente jabo tor shathe sharata poth!

Bondhu amaar hoye jash tui
Chere amaye jashney kothao
Bhalobashbi jokhon tui amake
Bhalobeshe felbo amio amake!

The darker side of light

I walked. I was humming a song to myself. A sad song- Bleeding Love. The singer was pining for her beloved. She spoke of how they keep trying to pull her away, but her then she kept bleeding love, because her lover had cut her open. I thought I could relate to her, except that I was bleeding blood. The gash I’d inflicted upon my wrist was slowly but steadily draining my veins. I was glad though, that I could not see it.  It was too dark for the trickling red drops to be visible.

Suddenly, I stumbled against something. The thing woke up with a start. It was a homeless boy, probably my age, sleeping on the pavement, wrapped up in tethers- his version of a blanket. He looked at me and smiled. What could possibly make him smile in the dead of the night after being rudely awakened, I asked him. He was dreaming a beautiful dream, he said- one in which he could sleep for as long as he wanted. One in which he did not have to wake up at 4 am to walk to the brick kiln to work all day long and make his way to a slow death from dust poisoning. He asked me, “Yeh subah hoti kyun hai”?

I smiled at him and tried to move on. But the pain in my wrist was beginning to numb me. I wanted to walk ahead, but as long as there was even a little bit of life was left in me, I was a slave to the commands of my body. I leaned against an ambulance parked nearby. I looked at its insides. It was one of those well-equipped ones, with life support systems and a very comfortable looking bed. I couldn’t help but wonder, how many lives did this ambulance help save everyday? Ten? Twenty? Fifty? The life support system, that soft bed- did they really matter when you were dying? At night, the ambulance was just another vehicle, waiting patiently for the emergency to occur the next morning. If it had a mind, would it have wanted the sun to rise the next day, bringing with it yet another crisis? Somebody’s mother, somebody’s brother, somebody’s child battling for life... the ambulance saw all this everyday. I wonder if it ever got as sick of its life as I had gotten of mine.

The blood from my wrist was still dripping. I looked around. I could see the silhouette of my city against the night sky. The city I loved. The city that I hated. It looked beautiful now. All I could see was the minaret of the mosque nearby, with a huge statue of a Hindu God in the background. I had never seen a sight more divine, more touching. I was thankful to the darkness of the night, for I had seen what the same scene would look like in the daylight.

Suddenly, I saw a light go on in the minaret of the mosque. I heard the azzan begin, and realized that dawn was breaking. My body had gone completely numb, and I felt the last dregs being sucked out of the
cup that was my life. I lay down on the street, when
suddenly somebody stumbled against my body.

It was the brick-kiln boy- the boy who loved sleeping, the boy who hated daylight, for that meant working in inhuman conditions. He was in a hurry, he did not recognise me. Besides in the dark I doubt he’d seen my face too well. Suddenly I wished I had not slashed my wrist. I wanted to live. I turned my face to look at the Hindu God behind the mosque- In the pink light of daybreak, I could see the idol that had been defaced by the members of the community whose mosque the Hindus had painted black during a communal riot. I asked Him to send the driver of the ambulance to me, to take me to a hospital where I could be saved. But no miracle happened.

Later in the day, as the sun shone down upon the city, bathing it in a warm light, people found my lifeless body lying next to the ambulance. 

More Mon Majhi

More mon majhi! Ei apaar Node kkhunje kaharey berash?

Dekhe je tore murkhota, henshe tara bhora ei akash!

Khunjhish je tui shathi, chash je tui paar-

Pabi toh tui keboli tufan, milbe toh torey shudhui jhor!

Chotto tor nouko shamaal dibi eto bipoder kemni?

hobey je noukodubi, mitbey je tor jiboner shob nishani!

Dheu-a je torey korbey grash, hariye felbi je tui opar!

Rakhbey na torey money je keu, bhuley jabe je torey a shongshar!

Binoti

Hajar phuler sourabey sugandhito amaar shwaas,

Hajar tarar aloye ujjwal amaar du'nayan;

Hajar samudrer gobhirataye doobey achey ammar mon,

Tao amaaye koreche a kemon ek udasinataye grash??

Natamastak aami kebol tomari charane, he sakha!

Hrido majhe tomaye pai, tatei toh e jibon-er purno howa;

Shobi ache more kachey, nai kebol tomar bhalobashar chonwa,

Koro he amaaye uddhar; binita, ami tomar Anamika!

Guys... this is my first attempt at writing bengali poetry, so please don't mind if I haven't done justice to it! This poem is an appeal by a young, ambitious woman to the omnipresent, omnipotent and all knowing God; the only one she's ever going to kneel before, to bless her life. She knows she has everything that she could ever ask Life for, yet an unknown pain eats away at her heart. It is then that she realizes that what's missing is the touch of the Almighty in her life!