FISTFUL OF HOPE PART 3: HINDI POETRY OF PROMILA BHARDWAJ : ENGLISH TRANSVERSION BY RAJNI CHHABRA
41. White and Black (Shewat aur Shyam ) page 84
42. Tiny Girl ( Nanhi Munni Ladhki) page 77
43. Criticism ( Aalochana ) page 86
44. Traffic ( Aawagaman) page 70
45. Fistful of Hope ( Anjuri Bhar Aas) page 19
46. Confusion (Bhram) page 67
47. Silence ( Moun) page 56
48. Red Ink ( Lal Syahi) page 97
49. Ground (Chaougaan) page 112
50. Greeting (Naman) page 69
41. WHITE AND BLACK
********************
Black and white
Only these two colours are visible
On snow-clad mountains
That were green till yesterday.
A little bit sandy, too
For sometime, eyes were closed,
During night itself, this miracle happened
Moon-light covered greenery
Darkness covered sandy soil.
On mountains were visible only two colors
Black and white.
Stretching wings
White-colored birds
Seemed covering darkness
Diffusing brightness
Become mates of hope
Shine lie rays
On black surface of earth
Take away anguish of mind
Showcasing divine beauty
Only two colors are visible
Black and white
Both are competing with each other
Snow fell like swabs of cotton
By and by, right in front of the eyes
Moonlight dominated
Mind became cheerful
White colour descended
On leaves of trees
On courtyard of houses
On terrace, fields,
It seems symbolic of
Victory of truth
Symbol of peace,
Arrival of happiness
As if eager lover
Waiting for beloved
Apostle of humanity
Resource of cleanliness,
This colour is favourite of all
White and white colour
Prevalent everywhere
Till the extent of vision
And on those high mountains
That were green till yesterday.
42. TINY GIRL
***********
Sweet like doll
Tiny girl
Plays with handkerchief
In fun,
Draws sketch of life
Creates, discards, embellishes
For hours, folds
Handkerchief , with concentration
Unaware of
Crowded ambience
And of her future
Moves handkerchief in air
Moving freely, with playful movements
Would cover her head with
Like a scarf
Keeps it in pocket
Wipes sweat
Makes a ball and bounces
Cuddles it
Putting it in form of doll
Puts it on shoulder
Carrying like heavy burden
Walks bending
Pretends to wipe tears with it
Or acting of coughing
Uses it as pillow
At times, as broom,
Unaware of all.
Is she doing rehearsal of roles
That she has to perform
Till attaining old age.
This chit of girl is so capable
She is master of diverse forms of art
She is progenitor of all
Even then, treated as unwanted
Why is she despised?
Treated as inauspicious
Why is she killed
Even before birth?
Doll like sweet,
Tiny baby, unborn girl.
If you have to kill
Kill your sick mentality
Blemished mental attitude
Clumsy malpractices
Conservatism
Such considerations
And reasons of such considerations
Don't kill that doll like
Sweet tiny girl
Neither before birth
Nor after birth
Or else,
Human -race will extinguish
Without this sweet tiny girl.
CRITICISM
***********
Involved in criticizing
Whole world spends time
This is means of entertainment
Capable of reforming
Cures like medicine.
It is easy to criticize
But not easy to bear it,
It is not of individuals
It is criticism of their behaviour
Basically, all individuals are almost alike
But appear different
Due to difference in behaviour
There are so many varieties of behaviour
Sweet, bitter, sour, spicy
Satirical and serious
Good, bad and mixed
Concocting these
Different kinds of personalities evolve
For falling prey to critics.
Criticizing is easy
But listening to criticism
That too own,
Is so painful and intolerable
It is beneficial as well
If we contemplate on it
It treats our shortcomings
Cautions us, rectifies
Conduct,- behaviour.
If criticism becomes guide of
Public representatives
Administrative officers
Social reformers
It becomes a means of development
If criticism retains its grace
It is highly appreciable
If turns venomous, it will be fatal.
Destroyer of happiness and peace
Assuming positive form
Let it flow perennially,
Let it proliferate!
Involved in criticizing
Whole world spends time.
TRAFFIC
*********
When viewed from summit
View is very charming and pleasant
On serpentine roads
In opposite directions
Fast moving vehicles
Continuous traffic,
On uneven, wavy roads
Running, panting, creepy
Youth, adults and aged travellers
Diverse forms of vehicles
Wherefrom, they have come
Is not known, just as our
And of other creatures
Previous and next destination
Is not known to us
Raising curtain from this secret is
Equally tough
Where is our next destination and when
Who has got clue to it
Let him reveal it to us too.
Till then, let us enjoy viewing
This pleasant view of
Traffic of vehicles
Scattered on earth, journey
Of our own and others.
45. FISTFUL OF HOPE
******************
Crazy hope
Moved in quest of
A fistful of light.
Diving in it.
Depurate
That gets dusty
Often due to pollution,
Diffused all around
Inside and outside
In all four directions
In diverse ways
And why---
All are aware of it
Then, why to repeat
Just ponder over
How to remove
Its havoc
That is mingling in breath
Like slow poison
Assuming form of diverse frustrations
Stretches in mind
In each and every street
In each and every city
Every *Prahar
It is getting very difficult
To breathe and live perfectly
Under such circumstances
Observing effort of
Passionate hope
Why to make fun of her,
Indulged in quest of light
Diffusing it on all
Embellishing herself
She is all set to view
Graceful -beautiful
Inside and outside
Pure and chaste
Pray that efforts are successful
Crazy hope, attaining light
Remain cheerful always
Crazy hope seeks
Fistful of light
Fist remains full of it
Never gets empty.
Hope of all are cherished
All remain joyous
For satiety and happiness
Suffices
Fistful of hope!
* prahar : In Hindu calculation of time, a day is divided into 8 broader divisions of three hours each, called Prahar.
46. CONFUSION
*************
Reaching on
Summit of
Lush green mountain
Glanced downwards
Within a moment
In both eyes
Got confined
Entire town,
Plains, river, bridge
And serpentine pathways
Passing which
We reached so high,
Capturing this splendid view
In eyes,
Presented it to heart
Heart accepted it
Viewed, examined, praised,
Thrilled
Passed it to intellect
As gift
Intellect examined it,
And exercised mind,
Thought of locating
Own house in that clicked view,
Failed, but
This attempt did not prove futile
Realization dawned
About self-identity
That seemed to be very special
Came to realize
This existence is as much unknown
As his own house
In this entire landscape.
Ego subdued
Internal darkness
Came to an end
Confusion ended
Got polite
Reaching on
Summit of
Lush green mountain.
47. SILENCE
**********
We, you and all are subsisting
In empire of silence.
Silently flowing amidst it
Pure river of occupancy,
We, you and all of us
Have become its opposite banks.
Innumerable waves of sentiments
Have come to stand-still
Due to lack of exchange of ideas,
Creating impression of cold-war
Attack of anguish
All are tolerating silently
Silent viewers of nature and we ourselves
Are aghast at this reign of silence.
We, you and all are dwelling
In this empire of silence
Like good citizens
But, no, this empire is not good
It is fetching restless disposition of mind
Making whole surroundings burdensome.
Come, let us shift somewhere else
Stop living in this empire of silence.
We are two opposite banks of river.
For sake of removing distance and silence
Conversing mutually
While flowing,
Mingle into
Ocean of good-will
Get in unison
With conciliation
Always live in unison
Wherever might live
We, you and all
But not at all
In the empire of silence.
48. RED INK
49. GROUND
**********
Shivering with cold
On a lethargic holiday
Cozy golden rays of the Sun
Cajoled lotus-like face of
Shivering dawn
Reluctantly
Yawning
Moving slowly
Sheet of fog
Studded with beads of dew
Dawn rose
And with its light
Awakened, patting
The ground, half asleep
As it got fully awake, by and by
Children who had been waiting
Teen-agers, youth
Forming groups
With their companions
Taking along with them
Cricket, foot-ball
Skipping rope-badminton
And other items
Landed in the ground
Ripe-aged persons , too
Came out for strolling
Accompanying them were
Groups of swans and birds
Some persons came to lounge
Some for stretching their bodies
Some came to play cards
Or to read newspaper
Women-folk, after completing chores
Fetching crochets and knitting pins
Groundnuts-* revari
Came to relax
Houses on all sides
Seemed deserted ,
Appeared viewing with jealousy
Ground, full of hustle-bustle
Still, having much of empty space,
This huge ground is evidence of
Countless festivals and fairs
And historical events.
So much, tolerant, so polite
As great as it is huge.
O, that courtyards of our hearts
Too get so huge
To accommodate
Affection and love of
All creatures,
Our own and strangers
O, Huge ground!
Give us this boon
All become as great as you!
* Revari : a sweet dish prepared with jaggery and seeds of seasame
50. GREETING
***********
Reaching
On summit
Vision reaches till far
With a fast pace
Views clean, refreshed bright
Serialated mountain range
Overjoyed beholding this beauty
Pleased , sips greenery
Filling cups of eyes to brim
At times, delighted
At times, astonished
Ponder over
How and when the care-taker of
Numerous wide-stretched forests,
Gardens-orchids, flower gardens
And our all crops
Comes and takes care of all these
Crop is so abundant
That it suffices for all creatures
My eyes, moist with gratitude
Gratified to you for satiety, greet you
To the last extent of vision
Viewing ethereal beauty
Blooming farms-fields
Heart bows in obligation
With a fast pace, eyes view
Life-bestowing nature
Clean, pure and bright.
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