Poem 1: I wish I were blind
I wish I were blind
and take the world for what it really is
and not for its image that I have formed
Every touch of petal or thorn
would be more lively at my finger tips
and the soil of my mind more damp
to feel the imprint of that prick
or of that velvet rub on my skin
I wish I were blind
and not judge you for your face,
race, get up or looks
Your words would then matter more
and sink in deep for me to cling
to your melodious voice
and for the empathy it carries
towards me and everyone else alike
I wish I were blind
and that way not see this smiling mask
you have pulled on to deceive the world
that way, may be we can get a bit more close
as I enter your heart
to fathom the deepest of your pains and griefs
you have let unhealed for just you to suffer
I wish I were blind
and start to feel the warmth of agony in your tears
as I wipe them off your cheeks
and not be just mechanical while I support you
in darkness, and in light
I wish I were blind
and taste in every morsel, that joy
a beggar feels after a long fast
and start to appreciate more
the coziness with which I live
square meals everyday, I so effortlessly gulp
and not to mention in your kiss
I now can sense a taste, which I earlier missed
for lust, as I hastily made love
I wish I were blind
and joyfully record the sound as every new wave
washes to the shore
while we sit on the sand
under that moon lit night
counting stars, holding hands
humming to some silent melancholic tune
I wish I were blind
to feel the world a bit more
than what I usually do
with touch, sound, smell and taste
and an empathetic mind to see
only now have I learnt to love
and meaningfully live and see
Poem 2: Translation of Tagore’s Jokhon Porbe na More
Link to Hemant Da’s Rendition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IrIUfvpOaY
When neither will my feet
Imprint this dusted path
And nor will I row
down this crowded ghat
Having paid all my debts,
And stopped with you, this trade
The mart shall see me not
To which I often strayed
Thence, Oh dear please vow
To not remember me at all
And while you look up the stars
Me you must not recall
When strings would catch up rust
And hence sitar would not sing
The door to my home
when shall forever stop to swing
Thick these grass and thorns
will veil my garden rose
And when my backyard pond
will die as algae grows
Thence, Oh dear please vow
To not remember me at all
And while you look up the stars
Me you must not recall
Herders will play the same
While herds busily graze
Rowers shall continue to steer
Down these very bays
Plays will reverbate the same
with tunes that today we know
The days will come and pass
On will go the show
Therefore, Oh dear please vow
To not remember me at all
And while you look up the stars
Me you must not recall
Now who shall dare to say
That I wont be there that dawn
In all these different men
will be me who is living upon
Sure with a different name
To me you now shall call
Sure with newer arms
To me you now shall stall
There you know me now
daily who comes and goes
beyond today tomorrow
to me the time see, bows
Therefore, Oh dear please vow
To not remember me at all
And while you look up the stars
Me you must not recall
Poem 3: Translation of Tagore’s Tabu Mone Rekho
Link to Kanika Bandyopadhyay’s Rendition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t8tzt2lJeo
Tobu mone rekho
(Even then, Keep me in your mind)
Even if I happen to stray
into an oblivion faraway
Tobu Mone Rekho
Even if a love, newly won
layers over an old one
Tobu Mone Rekho
Even if with hand in hand, though close by I stand
Yet like a shadow, invisible, unknown to your mind
Tobu Mone Rekho
Even if I quit the game on a lovely night, and burn to ashes
and leave you with tears floating on your eyelashes
Tobu Mone Rekho
Even if an optimistic autumn morn breeze
comes to abandon our dreams and all tasks cease
Tobu Mone Rekho
Or even if your mind, wipes me off
and your eyes refuse to shed a drop
Tobu Mone Rekho