Avik Maity- English Literature

Banalata Sen Jibanananda Das Translated from the Bangla by Clinton B. Seely   For thousands of years I roamed the paths of this earth, From waters round Sri Lanka, in dead of night, to seas up the Malabar Coast. Much have I wandered. I was there in the gray world of Ashoka And of Bimbisara, pressed on through darkness to the city of Vidarbha. I am a weary heart surrounded by life's frothy ocean. To me she gave a moment's peace—Banalata Sen from Natore. (হাজার বছর ধরে আমি পথ হাঁটিতেছি পৃথিবীর পথে, সিংহল সমুদ্র থেকে নিশীথের অন্ধকারে মালয় সাগরে অনেক ঘুরেছি আমি; বিম্বিসার অশোকের ধূসর জগতে সেখানে ছিলাম আমি; আরো দূর অন্ধকারে বিদর্ভ নগরে; আমি ক্লান্ত প্রাণ এক, চারিদিকে জীবনের সমুদ্র সফেন, আমারে দু-দণ্ড শান্তি দিয়েছিল নাটোরের বনলতা সেন।) Her hair was like an ancient darkling night in Vidisha, Her face, the craftsmanship of Sravasti. As the helmsman when, His rudder broken, far out upon the sea adrift, Sees the grass-green land of a cinnamon isle, just so Through the dar

A Little Distance                         Vikram Seth A little distance from the waterfall By a small pool the yellow beach towel lies On a long warm rock, and near it azaleas grow And the shadows of thin fish fall Across the speckled stones, and a light breeze blows  Rippling the skin of the pool, first this way, then that. A blue-tailed lizard suns itself And we ourselves as the sun burns through a cloud Into the rocks, into our cold bones. Tired, tired, my mind melts in the sun. An ant crawls over my ankle. I sit up: there You lie, beautiful, half-nude on the white pebbles, Cream-coloured breasts open to the breeze and the sky And a few lines of silver hair in the brown To announce the burden of your twenty-eight years. To be chaste, how frustrating for minutes, How uncomplicated for days - to order fish, chives, To discuss the rats in our room when the morning gongs Sound out the monastery routine. To be Just friends, reverting in a richer vein To