Sravan
Anjan Sen
The sky shivers with the swing of rains
the rain drip-dropdrenching the visionary world
O grace . O thunderous gracequench the cosmic thirst
In the rice field , the festival song is on
In the roots the swing of the rains
Towards their rock the pilgrims move
their shoulders heavy with the sacrosanct water
Pouring water - Sravan takes a shower
Once again the song of desire for grain
The rock has been washed by many monsoons .
translated from Bengali by Amlan Dasgupta, a Bangladeshi poet.
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Listen to an MP3 recording |
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performed folk singer Sibabrata Karmakar to a private gathering. The musicians use traditional instruments. |
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Anjan Sen writes: "Sravan is related to harvest,fertility. In this month many people follow rituals, for example: carrying water on their shoulders and travelling for 45 or so kilometres to pour the water on god Shiva. Shiva is the god of fertility and harvest. His image is a round shaped black stone called a "Linga." In the poem, the grains have hardened and taken the form of the stone or "Linga."
There are many songs about Sravan, classical,folk, and modern, some are very long, some are part of rituals."
This is how the poem looks when written in Bengali . . .
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