Bolted doors, the neighbourhood sleeps still
All I hear is the knocking of the night
Abani, are you home?
Here it rains all the year round
Like grazing herds the clouds here drift
These green blades of grass
Look askance as they choke my door
My heart near-suffused with ache,
Is bound for far away. I fall asleep
To hear the knocking of the night
Abani, are you home?
The translator does a great job here, by remaining true to the original versions and at the same time, bringing out the intensity and the depth of the original poems, belonging to different genre as well as different generation, in their true essence.
A signature style of writing is sometimes visible in the translated short stories section, but each one of the translation under the poetry section remains distinctly different from the other, in style, in content and in presentation. The readers await more entries in this section. Would love to read Bishnu Dey, Shubhas Mukhopadhyay and Nirendrenath Chakraborty, in this translation site.
Poems are ought to loose their beauty in the process of translation. Nevertheless, this translation has preserved much of the original essence of ‘Aboni Bari Acho’. I have read the poem so many times in so many conditions! I was hoping to introduce it to my German friends. This translation has been a great help to that. Adios!
Nothing is lost in translation. The target language is a different one where the translator moves in freely with his process of transforming the source language to target language. But the trouble starts because we cannot separate ourselves from our emotional bonding with the source language. Even at times, translated version comes out well over the text. Anyway, it all depends upon the mood and keen sense, grasping etc. of the translator.
Regarding the translated poem, it’s done well.
Very true to the original Bangla. it brings out the lingering sense of intriguing anticipation. Thanks!
TRANSLATIONS: ARUNAVA SINHA 
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