A father, teacher, personal counsellor, sometime journalist and reader, I keep reflecting on the world's pageantry, magic, comicality and pain...
Explore this blog by clicking on the labels listed along the right-hand sidebar. There are lots of interesting stuff which you won't find on the home page
Thank you, Aditya. The Bengali poem, too, is exquisite as well as deeply disturbing; I suppose the language barrier was troublesome for you. And alas, after more than forty years at it, I have decided that Tagore's poems are virtually untranslatable - if you are looking to savour the full flavour and grandeur, that is.
Sir apni khub sundor abbritti koren. aro erom sundor abbrittir opekkhaye roilam. [sorry sir I do not have BanglaWord installed otherwise i would have written it in Bengali]
Your recitation was absolutely mesmerizing. I literally felt the emotion hidden in the poem. I was truly delighted to hear the two poems in your voice.
Dear Sir, It was wonderful to hear your voice again through recitation,it is indeed a great pleasure to witness the way by which you recited,the pauses you took and the way you potrayed the heart wrenching emotions through your baritone.Do keep reciting sir we will be listening to them. Regards Swarnavo (Batch-2014)
I enjoyed the Bengali Poem in equal measure. The language was not a barrier at all. Although I live in north India, my mother is Bengali and my father is from Odisha. I always joke that my mother tongue is Bengali! But there is some seriousness to it too. My knowledge of Bengali exceeds that of Odia by leaps and bounds while I mix Punjabi and Hindi words profusely while speaking Odia and the result is basically comical. I could only speak broken phrases when I first joined college but am proud to say that my ability to have and sustain a conversation in Bengali has seen remarkable improvement. Friends like Swarnava have been very helpful in correcting me when necessary and encouraging me to speak openly with them. I also haggled quite a bit with the booksellers in Boi Para in Kolkata with surprising fluency in my 1st year at college! And you would be happy to know that I can now read and write in Bengali too. I used the most ingenious way to achieve this. I would listen to Bengali songs, memorize the lyrics and then read the lyrics posted in the comments. I still do this every time I listen to Bengali songs. I do believe that this acquired skill would help me when I travel to Kolkata next time.
I absolutely agree with the second part of your comment that Tagore is basically untranslatable. Sir, I am a firm believer in the notion that the richness of Indian languages is unparalleled. And any attempt at translating rich Indian poetry, especially by the greats, doesn't do full justice to the original work. I am not against translations, having benefitted from translated texts many times, but I hold the view that the real essence of the text is lost in translation. And this is where the role of the translator matters a lot. I think that a person with an inherent knowledge of Bengali language, or for that matter, any language, who not only has a rich vocabulary but more importantly understands the spirit of the language (like yourself) and also commands significant mastery over the ‘foster’ language would do much more to bring out the true feeling and grandeur of the famous works compared to even the most celebrated writers. Language is living, breathing, and dynamic heritage and is best appreciated when one is familiar with it not through books alone but with experience. Any half-hearted attempt at presenting this is bound to produce an outcome that is stillborn at best. These are my views sir and I have an open mind about them. Having said that, I would absolutely love to hear more of your recitations or ‘abbriti’ as it called in Bengali if I am not wrong.
10 comments:
Dear Sir,
I absolutely loved it.
And thank you for sharing Tennyson's poem.It is now a part of my 'Favourite Poems' list.
Aditya Mishra
Thank you, Aditya. The Bengali poem, too, is exquisite as well as deeply disturbing; I suppose the language barrier was troublesome for you. And alas, after more than forty years at it, I have decided that Tagore's poems are virtually untranslatable - if you are looking to savour the full flavour and grandeur, that is.
Sir
Sir apni khub sundor abbritti koren. aro erom sundor abbrittir opekkhaye roilam. [sorry sir I do not have BanglaWord installed otherwise i would have written it in Bengali]
With regards
Rangan Sarkar [ICSE 2017 batch]
Thank you, Rangan. Nice to know that you follow the blog.
Sir
Good evening Sir,
Your recitation was absolutely mesmerizing. I literally felt the emotion hidden in the poem. I was truly delighted to hear the two poems in your voice.
Thank you Sir.
Aishik Bandyopadhyay
You are welcome, Aishik. :)
Sir
Dear Suvroda - Great to see you continuing to recite. Regards Tanmoy
Dear Sir,
It was wonderful to hear your voice again through recitation,it is indeed a great pleasure to witness the way by which you recited,the pauses you took and the way you potrayed the heart wrenching emotions through your baritone.Do keep reciting sir we will be listening to them.
Regards
Swarnavo
(Batch-2014)
Dear Sir,
Absolutely wonderful recitation! Your deep, yet soothing voice is such a pleasure to the senses. Please share more of this in your blog.
Sincerely,
Saikat.
Dear Sir,
I enjoyed the Bengali Poem in equal measure. The language was not a barrier at all. Although I live in north India, my mother is Bengali and my father is from Odisha. I always joke that my mother tongue is Bengali! But there is some seriousness to it too. My knowledge of Bengali exceeds that of Odia by leaps and bounds while I mix Punjabi and Hindi words profusely while speaking Odia and the result is basically comical.
I could only speak broken phrases when I first joined college but am proud to say that my ability to have and sustain a conversation in Bengali has seen remarkable improvement. Friends like Swarnava have been very helpful in correcting me when necessary and encouraging me to speak openly with them. I also haggled quite a bit with the booksellers in Boi Para in Kolkata with surprising fluency in my 1st year at college!
And you would be happy to know that I can now read and write in Bengali too. I used the most ingenious way to achieve this. I would listen to Bengali songs, memorize the lyrics and then read the lyrics posted in the comments. I still do this every time I listen to Bengali songs.
I do believe that this acquired skill would help me when I travel to Kolkata next time.
I absolutely agree with the second part of your comment that Tagore is basically untranslatable.
Sir, I am a firm believer in the notion that the richness of Indian languages is unparalleled. And any attempt at translating rich Indian poetry, especially by the greats, doesn't do full justice to the original work. I am not against translations, having benefitted from translated texts many times, but I hold the view that the real essence of the text is lost in translation. And this is where the role of the translator matters a lot. I think that a person with an inherent knowledge of Bengali language, or for that matter, any language, who not only has a rich vocabulary but more importantly understands the spirit of the language (like yourself) and also commands significant mastery over the ‘foster’ language would do much more to bring out the true feeling and grandeur of the famous works compared to even the most celebrated writers.
Language is living, breathing, and dynamic heritage and is best appreciated when one is familiar with it not through books alone but with experience. Any half-hearted attempt at presenting this is bound to produce an outcome that is stillborn at best.
These are my views sir and I have an open mind about them. Having said that, I would absolutely love to hear more of your recitations or ‘abbriti’ as it called in Bengali if I am not wrong.
Aditya Mishra
Post a Comment