Bashabari Tenanted House by Tagore translated by Ranu

It is my first trip to this city.

At two- thirty am.Am trying to find the address of the house.

With the lantern  in hand,I guess my way.

English: Rabindranath Tagore Русский: Тагор, Р...

English: Rabindranath Tagore Русский: Тагор, Рабиндранат (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Like a python’s ghost there are lanes after lanes.

The confusion increases,as I make a stop

there is a wharf going down the left lane.

I see the house standing ,masked in disguise__

the doors and windows were open wide, it’s all quiet.

Near the window on the fourth floor there is an opening

the flame of the light is piercing the dark.

Rest of the estate

gives the picture of  fat veiled giants looking like  women.

A foreigner’s tenanted house it is__ some live a few months

with their family,spend  time here;

their work is done in a few days,they

pay off their rent and leave elsewhere,no one knows them or where they went!

I inquire ‘is there someone here, can I get a place?’

The voice says, ‘we are no–no more.’

from the doors and the windows all over the sky

swarms of birds are flying in the dark open sky .

Thousands of wings flying   all together

in the dark , sounds like, ‘we are no— no more.’

I say ,’what work brings you here?’

Reply comes,’ no one knows the reason.

In every age the  group of no– more is increasing;

when it becomes a confused noise

I suppress all the words with___

no — no more.’

Next morning in the same house I saw,

boys  playing a game of let’s fight,let’s fight,

with sticks in hand they were obstructing each other.

In the corner two old men were scolding one another__

the betting game is played only to win or lose,

the assets and liabilities keep accumulating,the account remains incomplete.

There is scent from the kitchen,and sound of dish washing;

the maid with the basket to the store is going.

One at a time I look at their faces,

I hear similar sound ‘we are no—– no more.’

Anna Walner and Christina Matisic Posted by Ranu

Anna Walner and Christina Matisic are the two

most adorable people I have seen.

English: Anna Wallner and Kristina Matisic at ...

English: Anna Wallner and Kristina Matisic at the Leo Awards 2009. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

They may not wow you by the way they cook,

they will surely impress you by their gorgeous look.

I wait for their show every day,

at four pm sharp they are visible on TV,

their opening lines are always the same,

I wait patiently to hear the name

of the Chef they will cook for that day.

‘We will cook for the French Chef today

we hope there are  not too  many disasters we pray’.

Christina sliced the carrots too big,

Anna decided to fix it quick!

They completed their dishes on time,

The Chef was accompanied by two other chefs.

The mention of a French Chef gave them the jitters,

the addition of two more caused them to litter.

Mon Dieu ,Mon Dieu cried all three,

why such a mess ,heaven help ye.

The dinner went well,they were praised a lot,

Christina and Anna began dancing on the spot!

About Me posted by ranu

Comilla

Comilla (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Court Road, Comilla.

English: Court Road, Comilla. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Last time I wrote about my school. After my Dad’s passing my mother wanted to go back to Bangladesh.To us kids it was the first time we were going there to live. We were not excited.My mom had her siblings,she hadn’t seen.We did not know our aunts and uncles,we lived so far away from them,they were strangers to us. My eldest brother bought a house in Comilla for us to live.

I was sizing up everything I saw there. The potatoes were too small,the onions were probably  one tenth in size compared to what we saw in our previous city. I tried to tell Mom,we should go back to the city we came from. Mom ignored me,she knew she lived outside Bangladesh long enough.There was no way she would leave her siblings again.That virtually closed the door for us.

I realized I have to go back to school. All the schools in the town had schools where the medium of instruction was Bengali.I knew Bengali,I was able to read and write,but this is all I could do,but to handle it in Geography,Science,history,Math was a no go for me.Then I was told there was an English medium school,it only had up to the sixth grade. I was in fifth standard in my previous school,and I was far ahead than the sixth grade in the local school. My brother hired a private tutor to help me prepare for the high school exam. I did not like the arrangement.I decided I can study without help. My brother agreed and I did the exam privately.

I took admission in the local college. To be continued !