Shesher Kobita Poem In Bengali Pdf
Vittoria Pretlow
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Had been itching to read Shesher Kobita in Bangla for a long long time. But since i am not very fluent in Bangla, always doubted i could do it justice. Reading its English translation was not an option -- had read Gora and Wreck in English way back in school. And had understood how much of the original narration and emotions i had lost to translation. Over the past few years though, with a conscious endeavour to read more of Bangla and Hindi (the only two regional language i can claim to know, somewhat), my comprehension of both the language has improved significantly. Of course that makes me curse myself for not having tried hard enough in my girlhood years...but that's a lament for another day...
For today, we shall sing his praise who has left us with almost a 'life support' repertoire of words. We shall sing Tagore. Yet again. For giving us this exquisite book of love and of letting go. Amit and Labanya, brought together almost as if by a conspiracy, fall in love most instantly, and yet, part for life in the solemn understanding that marriage is not meant for them, that marriage will mar what they feel for each other. Set in Shillong, you can clearly see Amit and Labanya in the mist of its hills, admidst the Eucalyptus trees, trying to unknot their feelings, desires; see them being soothed by the balmy morning sun, and be struck with angst by the incessant rains. Bound by their love for poetry, united through poetry, they separate too, through poetry --- the last poem, Shesher Kobita, being the iconic, ageless expression of love and the gnawing pain of separation....it stays with you....and haunts....
Rich poetry notwithstanding, the narration is woven in richer prose. Bangla literature's shining jewel, readers across generations have thus got a stunningly contemporary, stunningly modern book on love and life ---
*"Meye biye korto shei purakale, lokkhon miliye. Ami chai patri, apon porichoye jaar porichoy, jogote je adbitiya" -- One married a 'girl' in olden times, upon comparing her birth chart. I want a bride whose identity will be her own, who is unique in this world.
*The self deprecating, "Kobimatro uNchit paaNch bochor meyad kobita kora....bhalolagar evolution ache. PaaNch bochor purbekar bhalo laga paaNch bochor pore o jdi aek ee jaygay khara dariye thake ta ho le bujhte hobe, bechare jaante pare ni shey je more geche" -- Every poet must be given a lease of only five years to write poetry.....your appreciation for poetry should evolve. If you still like what you liked five years ago, know that you have long died.
Even after completing the book, i have been reading portions of it randomly all through yesterday, to re-live its sentiments...its rich narrative. Shesher Kobita, then, is not a book you read once. You have to read it many times over to be able to fully comprehend why love should be able to liberate; why, sometimes that what you have let go has turned more precious than if you had owned it; why what stays back in the memories and in your heart, stays pristine....forever...
This is one of the masterpieces of Indian Literature. Here the relationships of two people are dealt in with great precision. The poet ranks the feeling of love above all and thus he constructs some of the eternal feelings in newer dimensions. He knows that the world is full of lusty bonds and intimate physicality, he secedes the bondage of love from the shackles to the sheer height in the sky. Thus this poem is an evergreen mantelpiece preserved in the heart of the civilization for the centuries.
Background
As mentioned earlier this poem opes the deep bonds of love and affection. The romantic feeling is excavated in a sublime manner. The shesher kobita was written when the poet was of 67 years of age. The poem biday was later incorporated in the text. Biday as the dates say was written when the poet had reached the grave age of 65. Thus it is clear that he had passed through the various stages of life and has seen the life with open eyes. He had experienced every nook and cranny of the same and thus tries to construe some lines for the welfare of the generation to come. He instills a new sense of love and sacrifice in the minds of the readers.
Structure of the poem
The poem is written in iambic pentameter. This is a rhyming pattern famous in the greek literature. The poet also uses a regular rhyme in two lines. There are 4 stanzas of the poem. There are uses of allegories and similies with striking relevance. The poem delves in the rhyming pattern and then again breaks through it in a blank verse sometimes.
Analysis
"kaaler jatrar dhwani shunite I pao?
Tari rath nityoi udhao,
Jagayichhe antarikshe hridoyspandan,
Charke pishte andharer bokhyophata tarar krondon."
Can you hear the sounds of the immortal time passing by you? The chariot of Time ever passes in the vicinity of the darkness. The time passes by and it appears as if the twinkling stars are crying out for the same through the dark crevices of the sky.
"ogo bondhu
Sei dhabomaan kaal
Joraye dhorilo more pheli taar jaal
Tule nilo druto raathe
Dushshahoshi bhromoner pathe
Toma hote bohu dure."
O my friend! That ever passing time has scooped me up in the fangs. The poet reres to the eternal time and says that time has taken up the beloved and she is treading far away from her partner. The poet refers to this travel as adventurous!
"mone hoy
Ajoshro mrityure paar hoye ashilam
Aji noboprobhater shokhorchhuray
Rather chanchal beg haoay uray
Amar purano naam -.
Phiribaar path nahi
Dur hote dekho Jodi chahi
Paribe na chinite amay-
Hey bondhu biday"
The poet says that to the beloved it appears as if she is trespassing the death many a times and seeing the new morning with the open eyes. The speed of the chariot is leaving back the old names of the person and the names are driven away in the gush of the passing wind. The world thus ends the dimensions. If one sees from afar then one cannot recognize the other. She bid an adieu thus to her lover.
"tobu toh se swapno noy
Sobchheye sotyo mor
Sei mrityunjoy
Se amar prem."
Yet that is not just a dream but that is the greatest truth of my life. That is the defeater of the death. That is my love.
"tari ami rakhiya elem
Aparibartan arghya tomar e uddeshhe
Poribortoner shrote ami jai bheshe
Kaaler jatray.
Hey bondhu biday"
The poet says that the beloved has left over the unchanging bows of the love for her beloved and she herself is eluded away by the waves of the changes in the tide of time. Thus she bids an adieu to the same.
"tomar hoyni kono khoti
Morter mrityika mor, tai diye Jodi amritomurati
Shrishti kore thako
Tahari aroti hok tobo sondhyabela
Pujar sey khela
Byaghat pabe na mor protyoher mlaan sporsho lege
Trishnarto abeg bege
Brhoshto nahi hobe taar kono phul noibedyer thale"
The beloved refers to her lover and says that he would have no loss. The soil piece of the idol which he had made of her is just made of the mud of the earth and that shall not be eradicated with time if he worships it daily during the evening periods. She says that game of worshipping shall not be mired by the daily handling of the mingled self and the passion of the physicality shall not smirk the purity of the divine love through the sole prayers.
"tomar manos bhoje sajatne sajale
Je bhab rasher patro banir trishay
Tar sathe dibo na mishaye jam or dhulir dhon
Ja mor chokher jole bhije."
What ever you have dressed up for me shall not be let to spoilt by any glimpse of sorrow. The prayers shall be ever as divine as graceful as it was before.
"ajo tumi nije
Hoyto koribe rochon
Mor smritituku diye swapnabishto tomar bochon."
May be you till today shall make up some dialogues between you and me through the weapons of the memory and imagination.
"bhar tar na rohibe, na rohibe day
Hey bondhu biday"
The weight of the bereaved soul shall no more stay tall. Thus o my friend adieu.
"mor lagi koriyo na shok
Amar royechhe kormo, amar royechhe bishyolok.
Mor patro rikto hoy nai
Shunyere koribo purno, ei broto bohibo sodai"
The poet says that the lover must not be sorrowful for the loved one. She says that she is not made a pauper. She shall ever bear the grace of filling the empty forever and ever. This shall be her holy service.
"tomare ja diyechhinu peyechho tar nisshesh adikaar,
Ogo nirupamo
Tomare ja diyechhinu
Se tomar e daan
Grohon korechho joto rini toto korechho amay
Hey bondhu biday"
Whatever I have given you, you had got the utmost rights of all of it. Whatever I had offered you that were all your gifts. The more you took the more hailed was I. thus adieu to you my friend.
Summary
The poem is a salutation from a beloved to her lover. The poet says that love is nothing frivolous. It is at the same time eternal and ephemeral. Love is greater than anything in this world. The beloved leaves but she says that she will stay for ever as the sweet memories in the mind of the lover. The lover can worship the form and start the dialogues in the imagining corners of his heart. She says that shall make her proud and hail her for time eternal.