Arunava Sinha's Blog, page 3

An Exchange: Amiya Chakravarty

In return you have got The silent pool in entirety A clear mirror framed in blue Water filled with light A shadow branch that’s bent with flowers Fluttering sails of purple clouds Filling up the heart An empty breast finds all it seeks In return you have got Blanked out thoughts of nothing-at-all Open roads […]

The Seventh Heaven: Samim Ahmed – Chapter One

Nana, Grandfather, had a dream the night before Runa’s mother was born. He was prone to changing the story of the dream at different times. Sometimes he said that a dervish wrapped from head to toe in a black smock bisected by a milk-white beard had told him, today’s the day your family gets an […]

50 years of Satyajit Ray’s Charulata. Nashtaneer, the story: Rabindranath Tagore

~ 1 ~ Bhupati had no compulsion to work. He had enough money, and, moreover, things were heating up in the country. But the stars at his birth had made him an industrious man. This was why he felt compelled to publish an English newspaper. Now he no longer had to grumble about time hanging […]

A Poem: Rumi

I never tired of thinking of you, my beloved Do not deprive me of your compassion This jar of water, this water-carrier Must be exhausted with me A parched fish remains within me Never given enough water To quench its thirst Show me the way to the ocean! Shatter these half measures All these tiny […]

No Lies In Her Fire: Asha Naznin

01 ‘Ma, every time you tell me the ‘No Lies in Her Fire’ story you never finish it…’ ‘Because you fall asleep.’ ‘No! One night I didn’t fall asleep, but you said, “No more tonight.”‘ ‘Maybe I was tired.’ ‘Tell me tonight. It’s the 26th of Agrahayan, your wedding anniversary. You must tell me the […]

An Unequal Extramarital Affair: Mandakranta Sen

You can talk to my parents I don’t mind if you do We’ll talk later, you and I So restrained in every way But reckless in private When was it I came to know? My mother quite likes you You’re a brother to my father But actually, you’re my friend Why didn’t you bring auntie, […]

June 22, 1962: Binoy Majumdar

Then let it, let it all burn, the fountain, the gaping, wounded heart Let peace stay away, let me forget all satisfaction Let my body, my soul, fill with my agony for her Her eyes, oval like a boat, had held the intense call Of the ocean, shadows, clouds, rainstorms, the sky, the wind Like […]

A Foreign Land: Mandakranta Sen

Wait, before being torn and ripped Let me memorise your lips The border of grass beyond The lips; the slightly fragile Intensity; the danger-engendering Heat; the irresistible, excellent Rain; so much of it, so much And, on this bursting summer day, From the northwest corner of your lips A storm arrives I stand with my […]

This July: Mandakranta Sen

This July you went to the mountains Are the rains different over there? Do clouds suffer less from forgetfulness? Does Tiger Hill always keep its word? It rained in the city too, as usual She wandered alone on mud-splattered feet Weeping without reason, an old habit In the sky the hours signalled heartbreak In the […]

There Was Somewhere I Wanted To Go: Premendra Mitra

There was somewhere I wanted to go But never did In the closed room the panes are rattled By a wild gust of wind Let them, I’m just fine Picking out my thought worms When that irks me I swat flies I know all wants will die when I shut my eyes I have learnt […]