Tagore – Through the eyes of Gulzar Part III

By some strange coincidence, SAREGAMA today posted a song that had been on my mind since the last few days… and the words were haunting me as much as the tune. You know like those songs that you keep humming through the day, for no apparent rhyme or reason! Ok, there might be a reason, actually. It was Gulzaar Saab’s birthday a couple of days back and I had been listening to him on a loop and that included the album I had talked about in two of my previous posts – Gulzar in conversation with Tagore. It is not just an album for me, but musical poetry. Translation of Robi babu’s writings by Gulzaar Saab, music by Shantanu Moitra and vocals by Shaan and Shreya Ghoshal – It can’t get any better than this, in today’s date!

So, without further ado, here’s the song – Bujh Gaya Tha Kyoun Diya, a duet by Shaan and Shreya Ghoshal with Moitra at the strings.

The original poem ‘দুরাকাঙক্ষা’ (Inordinate ambition) is from Robi babu’s book of verse – চিত্রা.

কেন নিবে গেল বাতি।
আমি অধিক যতনে ঢেকেছিনু তারে জাগিয়া বাসররাতি,
তাই নিবে গেল বাতি।

কেন ঝরে গেল ফুল।
আমি বক্ষে চাপিয়া ধরেছিনু তারে চিন্তিত ভয়াকুল,
তাই ঝরে গেল ফুল।

কেন মরে গেল নদী।
আমি বাঁধ বাঁধি তারে চাহি ধরিবারে পাইবারে নিরবধি,
তাই মরে গেল নদী।

কেন ছিঁড়ে গেল তার।
আমি অধিক আবেগে প্রাণপণ বলে দিয়েছিনু ঝংকার,
তাই ছিঁড়ে গেল তার।

And here is my humble effort to make it understandable to those who cannot read Bangla.

‘Oh, why did the flame die? 
I had shielded it so tenderly to keep it aglow, through the long nuptial night!
Did I so kill its fire?

Oh, why did the blooms wilt?
I had pressed them so close to my bosom, in my worrisome fear that they might die!
Did I so push them to wither?

Oh, why did the river dry up?
To make it mine for good, how fervently had I tried to veer it and turn its course!
Did I so push it to an untimely end?

 Oh, why did the strings sever?
How passionately I had tuned up the delicate strings to let out that strum!
Did I so push it to tear?’