Poems by Neelesh Raghuwanshi
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Half a Place
Whenever I look at a tree I look at half of it and leave the other half for you to see I keep all space half-empty even leave half the pillow for you I am never able to cross the river fully because I leave the other half for you water shivers on a lotus leaf the moon trembles as if in fear of Rahu Just like in dread of spring autumn shudders I shudder thinking about halfness thinking about the half-moon the half-filled lota I shudder thinking about your half-love Translated from the Hindi by Sarabjeet Garcha Bicycle Path Although riding a bicycle on the ground I rose above the ground I rounded a blind turn in such a way that even the cat crossing my way held her breath and stopped in her tracks I went down the slope as if leaving the whole world behind I went up the slope as if crossing mountains to reach the hillocks of dreams Riding a bicycle how fast you leave the city behind leave crossing the city behind But for the river the city would have lost its breath But for the front wheel there would’ve been no will to do something to win Pressing the bicycle to my side I stand on the same road today Seeing pedestrians the roads now get scared cats think ten times before crossing someone’s way cows and dogs no longer sit in the middle of the street I’ve never seen an injured monkey on the road Sensing death monkeys enter tree hollows Will those on the bicycle and on foot also go into one such hollow Will the cycle be sown in some memory-forest The bicycle didn’t even rust the roads ended without turning rocky even then there’s no mistaking the bicycle on the road like a dream at dawn Translated from the Hindi by Sarabjeet Garcha |
Neelesh Raghuwanshi is a poet, novelist and script writer from Madhya Pradesh. She has authored several books in Hindi, including Ghar Nikasi, Pani Ka Swad, and Khidki Khulne Ke Baad. She has also written plays for children and screenplays for telefilms. She is the recipient of many awards, including the Bharat Bhushan Agrawal Award (1997), Arya Smriti Sahitya Award (1997), Kedar Award (2004) and Spandan Kriti Award (2012). Currently she works at Doordarshan Kendra, Bhopal.
Sarabjeet Garcha is a poet, editor, translator and publisher. His five books of poems include All We Have, A Clock in the Far Past and Lullaby of the Ever-Returning, in addition to a volume each of poems translated from Marathi and prose from Hindi. He has translated several American poets into Hindi, including W.S. Merwin and John Haines, and several Indian poets into English, among them Mangalesh Dabral and Leeladhar Jagoori. He has received the Fellowship for Outstanding Artists from the Government of India, the International Publishing Fellowship from the British Council, and the Godyo Podyo Probondho Award. His poems have been translated into German, Spanish, Russian, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Punjabi and Hindi. He is the founder and editorial director of Copper Coin (www.coppercoin.co.in), a multilingual publishing company based in Delhi NCR.
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