Tagore’s song lyrics, translated by ranu

The blue morning star questions me,

How much longer will you take

to find your direction?

I could not answer the question,

I spent my life looking for direction.

Someone out of love created a light,

Which helped me see after the sun set.

While following my shadow,

I realized you and I are lost.

I do not look for the right path,

The path is looking for me.

my mind understands without knowing.

Everything around me is

going and coming.

I’m thirsty like the stagnant stream.

The blue morning star questions me.

I wish I was allowed to embed the song.

If you are interested you can find the song on YouTube:

The first line is: amai proshno kore neel dhrubotara.

Writing 101,Day 7: Beloved

Today’s assignment: Beloved

I have translated the following song which helps to understand, how one feels when one is separated from his/her beloved.

I think of my beloved a lot,

In the dark days of my sorrow,

I light up and extinguish my

Love’s lamp, hoping to feel better tomorrow.

It does not work

For every step I hear,

Awakens the memory of my dear,

The roads cannot help but laugh

That my heart still beats for my beloved.

Often I am misled into thinking

He is coming towards me smiling

But it is only my imagination.

My memory of him has not faded ,

There is a burning in my heart

The tears  flow without stopping,

Who knows what others think.

That I have not forgotten him

But my cries suddenly turn into laughter,

When I see him smiling in my thoughts.

The separation from him

Feels  as if there is no life in me

The lamp  continues to burn

There is no brightness.

I try  very hard,

But I am unable to appease my heart,

I  play various  tunes and  sing a variety of  songs,

It is  not enough  to console my heart!

 

I felt I could not write a better poem than this song. Pardon me for taking this route, I feel I have made some contribution by translating a song which is in a language other than my own.

Thank you all. 🙂

 

Writing 101,day, 17: A map your muse

Assignment: Today let a map be your muse.

Tell us about your connection to a place.

I have decided to choose Bangladesh as the place ,  the lyrics  of  the song I am about to post are by  Rabindranath Tagore. I have translated the Bengali words into English.My connection is I am a Bengali and was raised in Bangladesh. My ancestors are from Bangladesh.

Map of Comilla

Pen a poem inspired by the area’s topography.

TRANSLATION:

Mother means Bangladesh in this poem.

Today, from the heart of Bangladesh

O Mother, when did you appear in such an exceptional way!

O Mother I repeatedly  gaze at you,

I cannot have enough of you.

O Mother the doors of your temple are unlocked today!

Your right hand carries the blazing sword,

Your left removes fear and apprehension.

Your eyes reveal affection,

while your forehead conveys fierce resolve.

O ,Mother what an image of you,

I behold today.

O my dear Mother your untied hair conceals thunder

The edge of your garment glitters in the sun.

I neglected to look at you,

thinking my sad mother ,

Is alone in the deserted house .

There is no end to her misfortune.

But where is your miserable attire?

Where is that  sad smile?

The sky is adorned with

The lustre of your feet.

On this night of misery

Flood the world with the flow of happiness,

Your courage resonates in  my heart!

……………………………….. 🙂

 

 

 

Writing 101-Day 1 : I Write because…

Writing 101- Day 1: I Write Because……

I write because I enjoy writing. It helps me  write about things that is not always possible to carry on in a conversation.

I am not sure my friends or relatives would like me to talk in length what my thoughts are, some may show interest only half-heartedly ;others may tune me out; thinking what I’m saying is not interesting enough for them.

When I write I please myself, I do not have to think about anyone; it’s just my world and I get the luxury of putting my  thoughts in print. Some may read it , others may not. I write because it helps me to express myself.

I like to write about myself, who I am, why I’m writing, why do I have a blog. I have made friends through my writing.

Blogging has helped me  write about things I would not otherwise write.

I’m glad I decided to translate some of Tagore’s poems and his songs. I feel it is interesting for people who’ve heard about him, but are unable to know about his writings because of the language barrier. In a very small way I’ve tried to post some of his writing by translating them.

………………………………. 🙂

Blogging 101,Day one: Introduce yourself to the world

Today’s assignment: Write and publish a “who am I and why I’m here” post on your blog.

My name is Ranu, I am a Bengali from Bangladesh. My Father was Abdus Sabeth and my mother was Tahira Khatun. I am my parents seventh child.

In my country we all have two names, one is used at home and among relatives and the other is used outside home i.e school , certificates. It’s considered a formal name.

Like others in my homeland I too have two names, Ranu is my nick name and Chaman is my name which is used in my certificates and other documents.

When I started blogging I felt comfortable using Ranu as my user name.It’s short and easy to pronounce.

I studied in schools where the medium of instruction was English. I was able to take my mother tongue  Bengali as one of the subjects .

I am blogging publicly because it motivates me to write. Before becoming a blogger, I did not write a personal journal, I did not think about it and was not interested.

My blog’s focus is mainly on writing fiction, sometimes I like writing recipes, I also like translating poems and song lyrics of Rabindranath Tagore. He was a famous Bengali poet. I enjoy reading his poems listening to his songs and translating them, my aim is to let other bloggers enjoy Tagore’s poetry and songs, which is why I like translating them.

There are a few sports, I am interested to watch, one of them is Tennis and other is Ice Hockey, especially when my favorite team  or my favorite player is playing.

In Tennis my favorite players are  Roger Federer among men and Maria Sharapova among women. If they lose early in tournaments, I’m disappointed and lose my interest.

I love cooking spicy food, and have posted some recipes on my blog.

I’m also participating in online courses since 2011, it is the study of Allama Iqbal one of Pakistan’s most favorite and well-known poet and Philosopher. It is offered by Khurram Ali Shafique, he has devoted a long time studying about Iqbal and is the perfect facilitator for all of us.

Lastly I’d like to write about  my blog name  Sabethville, I  used my father’s last name Sabeth and added ville to it.

I hope to meet a lot of other bloggers and also read their posts.

…………………………………….. 🙂

365 Writing prompts: Release me

Tell us about the blog post you were most nervous to publish– and what it was like to to set it free.

It was the first time I had attempted to translate a poem of Tagore. I was advised by one of my classmates in the online course to translate Tagore’s poetry.

He said it because I am a Bengali and that it should be easy for me to do the work.

Over the years I have read Tagore’s poetry and picked one’s I loved because of their rhythm and the beautiful words the poet used to describe nature. I memorized them and frequently repeated them, it gave me a kind of delight I could never explain.

When I was confronted with the task of translating Tagore’s poetry into English it gave me  the jitters, I never thought in my wildest dream I was adept to try it. Rather than tell my friend I was incapable, because the hidden pride in me wouldn’t let me admit the fact.

I took out Tagore’s collection of poems, I picked one that I had recited as a child, I started translating it, it took me a long time to complete it, then the editing, reading and rereading began. I came to a point where I was tired of it.

When I was convinced I have done my best, I nervously clicked the publish button.

Then I waited to see the comment from my friend. He was very generous in his comment and I was ecstatic, I had crossed the first hurdle!

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/10/20/365-writing-prompts-release-me/

 

365 days Writing Prompt: Goals

When you started your blog ,did you set any goals? Have you achieved them? Have they changed at all?

I didn’t have any goals when I started blogging, perhaps there was one goal in my mind,what does it mean and how does it work. I have learned that part, who wouldn’t if you spend as long as I did.

In the beginning I wrote about different things, I did not have any plan what was the right thing to do. Then a friend suggested translating Tagore’s work, I do not consider myself an expert, but I was willing to try, the fact that it was my mother tongue it was helpful, I felt some of my online friends appreciated the writing of Tagore but could not understand because of the language. I solved the problem by my translation.

I have written about different cities in Bangladesh, I had to do some research, I didn’t visit all the places I only knew the names. This research was helpful to me as well.

At present I’m busy doing the writing and the daily prompt, some are interesting, it gives me an incentive to write.

: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/05/21/365-days-writing-prompt-goals

Writing Prompt: Personal Space

To what extent is your blog a place for your own self-expression and creativity vs a site designed to attract readers? How do you balance that? If sticking to certain topics and types of posts meant your readership would triple, would you do it?

I recall the day I started my blog,I had no experience and knew nothing about what to pick for my posts. I wrote about things I was comfortable with, I had very few readers, I was happy with it. I was also doing some online courses, there were one or two who followed my blog and wrote their comments. One of them encouraged me to translate Tagore’s poems, the idea was a great one. I started translating, there were two or three others who started reading my posts and liked it.

It was encouraging for me, the idea of translating Tagore’s poems at first scared me,I only knew Tagore from learning his poems and singing his songs, I didn’t think I was good enough to translate his work. Yes I spoke the language he used to write his poems and song lyrics, but the thought of translation of his work did not enter my mind. I did it because I was too embarrassed to admit I was unable to do so.

Pretty soon the numbers of poems I translated was increasing but my readership did not. I was discouraged but I did not give up. Then a blogger read some of my translations and left encouraging comments. I complained I had very few readers. She encouraged me to read the post of others to introduce myself and this way the bloggers may take notice of my posts. It worked but not by much.

I then started participating in the daily prompts and other things, I have a few more than when I started.

At the moment I’m comfortable with what I’m doing, sticking to certain topics to increase my readership three times more would depend on what the topics are about,if they are not something I’d like to write about, I’d prefer not to do them. 

I like the idea of freedom to do my own thing, anything that comes in the way of my self-expression and creativity, I will not do it.

k: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/05/01/writing-prompt-personal-space

DP Daily Prompt: Blogger of Repute

I’d like to think I have a good reputation, by it I don’t mean I’m an awesome writer. It means I’m easy to get along. I do not recall writing anything so far that will make one cringe.

I have translated a fair number of Tagore’s poems and songs. I love doing it. I’ve been asked by friends to doit. His poems or songs have nothing objectionable. I happen to be lucky. My native language is Bengali, same as the poet’s. Some of his writings do get lost in translation. It is a case with any translation. Still it helps to understand his poetry and the lyrics of his songs . Sometimes it lacks the deeper meaning, but I try my best.

I’ve written some stories about myself. My blogger friends and my other friends like what they read. At least this is what they say. I feel happy knowing it.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/01/17/daily-prompt-you/

DP Daily Prompt: Brain Wave

Sir Muhammad Iqbal (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Rabindranath Tagore won the Nobel prize for literature. It is the first Nobel prize won by Asia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Johann Wolfgang Goethe (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/12/30/daily-prompt-brainwave/

One day I started thinking of doing something to keep me busy. I surfed the internet and found out, Iqbal Academy was offering online courses on the poet and philosopher Iqbal. I was very happy. I thought it was a very good opportunity for me.

It would help me to know about the poet.  You see when I was a student in college, there was nothing about him in our course of studies.  I knew a few lines of one of his poems. They were awesome. I thought I’d be able to learn more about him.

I jumped at the opportunity and registered for the course. It was in 2011.  I am still doing it and enjoying it. I am trying hard to go back  and study as I used to. It is a very good course. It covers subjects like religion,philosophy. poetry, prose . We’ve also studied about Rumi , Goethe the German poet, Shakespeare and many others.

Studying about Iqbal has opened other doors,which I never would have tried.  I started blogging, translating, the work of  another great poet. Tagore. I knew a few things about him, now I know a lot more.   I am never bored,I always have something to do.

I am also trying to write something for ,SPEAKEASY. My participation in SPEAKEASY is awesome. I am getting to know a lot of good and gifted writers.

I now feel joining the online course was the best idea for me.  I came into contact with bright and intelligent people. I am enjoying interacting with a lot of interesting and friendly people. I am giving my brain enough work out to prevent it from getting rusty.