Rabindranath Tagore: A Tribute from Bangladesh

May 9 this year marked Rabindranath Tagore’s 152nd birth anniversary. On this occasion we are reproducing the following poem by a Bangladesh poet that was first published in Mainstream fortytwo years ago (April 3, 1971).

For Rabindranath

If they cut me into the finest mince-meat,

all of me—every bit of my flesh and blood—

will remain Bangla,

all my heart’s love and pain,

sorrow and solace

will remain Bengali.

Bangla’s agony is great.

But apart from this agony of Bangla

I feel in the deeps of my heart

the pang of many other tongues

in many a story or play,

many a poem or song

of many a literature.

My head bends low to the memory of

many a Shakespeare, Dante, Tolstoy.

Nonetheless,

deep in my heart’s coursing blood

throbs the memory of the one and only

Rabi Thakur—sole and complete.

Sleeping or waking, sitting or standing,

united or separate,

deep to my heart’s core

rings the voice of Rabindranath.

It’s his language

which leads our spirit by the hand

out of our homely bounds

on to the homes of our neighbours

of the wide world,

so to enable us make friends with them.

It’s his language

which guides our every step—

even when we beat a retreat

beaten by our enemies.

Silent or vocal,

It’s our Rabindranath’s language

which moves with muted steps

in every cell of our brain

in the lanes and bylanes of our heart.

This language and Rabindranath are one

as we too are Bangla.

Niamat Hosain

[Tranalated from the original Bengali by Kshitis Roy]