Wednesday, May 27, 2015

'O! Spring' - a translation



Pic courtesy: Tumblr


O! Spring, right after you departed

Aplenty here is agony

In tears I write poems

In blood I write letters many


After you, this lovely garden

One fine day was set afire

Scores of parched rosy souls

Cry heard from their pyre.

I frantically search the ashes

For your pink letter, with feelings dire.


Tell me, who should I blame

For your deserting of me

Despite requests to the fleeting time

Held back could my age be?

I weep through the hours of darkness

Reading my own letters you see.


O! Spring, right after you departed

Aplenty here is agony

In tears I write poems

In blood I write letters many


About the song: Perhaps one of the most famous brooding songs of Akshaya Mohanty. The lyrics are just half of the story. The wonderful tune of the song is the other half that makes it a super hit. Perhaps known to many teenagers of the yesteryear who would make it an anthem in heartbreaks.

Odia text of the Song:



Thursday, May 21, 2015

Disgraced Protagonist - a translation





Disgraced Protagonist 


(My translation of a popular Odia song by the legendary Akshay Mohanty)


From the eyes of a disgraced protagonist

 Falls when drops of tear

 World says that he cries again

After committing a sin sheer


All the wrong in the world

Is hidden in crevices of darkness

But look who in a bright day is scorned

Merely for speaking a few words


In the paths of my eternal love

Moss have since long gathered

But one who treads such a lane

Has seldom walked with steps measured


Akshay Mohanty (1934 – 2002) is perhaps the biggest name in Odia popular song history. He has a rich body of work which ranges from bhajans to film songs, albums to ballads. He was much ahead of his time with compositions like ‘Jajabara’ employing music techniques that Bollywood could adopt decades later. Very little can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akshaya_Mohanty


Odia (script – English):

 Kalankita ei nayaka aakhiru
Luha bi padile jhari,
Dunia je kahe, Kanduchi puni se kichi nua paapa kari
Dunia re jete paapa
Andhara kole loochi
Hele ene dekha, Kiye dosa niye khali tike katha kahi
Bhala paaibara pathe chiradina
Siuli rahichi jami
Hele bhala jiye paye, Sie bhala kebe bata chaale mapa kari
Kalankita ei...