Stirrings in the heart
Syed Badrul Ahsan cruises through poetry
Atyotsharon
Zahida Meherunnissa
Elevation of the Soul
Conversion: Feiroj Adams
Salahuddin Boighar
Poetry elevates the soul. It sharpens the senses. Best of all, it explores the entirety of being. That happens to be at the core of this work. Do not be surprised by the bilingual nature of it. There are the poems in the original, by Zahida Meherunnissa. And then there are the English versions of them, crafted into meticulous form by Feiroj Adams. You might argue that there is a straying of the rules here in that the poems come in a package, that is, in a single volume. Obviously, though, Adams was too moved by Meherunnissa's poetry to consider coming forth with them separately. And thus you have the pleasure of a work, coming to you per courtesy of Meherunnissa, enhanced through the constructive engagement, as it were, of Feiroj Adams.
The title (or titles) of the work speaks of the principle underlying its form and substance. Meherunnissa calls it Atyotsharon. Adams takes it on from there, coming up with the rather reflective Elevation of the Soul. And, indeed, in the elevated begins the poetry. You start off with Ekushey February, a seminal point if ever there was one in the history of Bangladesh. Ekushey, in the national consciousness, has been the sheet anchor of Bengali nationalist politics. It is precisely such a point which Meherunnissa and Adams seek to convey through their poem here. In simple terms, every remembrance of Ekushey is a rediscovery of the individual and collective soul of Bengal. It is a stream of thought that extends itself through the poetry. In Ondhokare Ot Pete Achhe, it is the War of Liberation that emerges as the theme. Yes, the war is over and yet there are all the hyenas lying in wait in the dark. You cannot miss the sense of politics here. But then, poetry must speak of momentous events. And that precisely is what it does, if you look into Meherunnissa's soul.
There are patent images of the fearful state the poet draws here. She speaks of the stubborn pride of Zaidee Muntazar, of his refusal to bow before the forces of autocracy. Adams gives that powerful sentiment his own voice:
The strength and courage that you bear / Give particles of those to your comrades to steer / Over the waves of cowardice and fear . .
Poetry, in simple terms, is often a loud protest against the manifest injustices of society. And yet poetry must also go back to its other, some would say original moorings. Nothing could be more stirring about love, about the bonding of hearts, than an expression of it through verse and rhyme. In Shomaj Bichchhinno, Shudhu Tumi Aami Deep, translated as Isolated Island by Adams, it is the heart that wishes to take flight. Crazy love searches far and wide for contentment, on a journey that will not end:
Behold, my lover on that ground / Green youthhood cannot be found / Youth is trying to ebb away . . .
Love then assumes the shape of passion, almost epic-like in its quality, in the poem Tomar Jonno Aami (I Stand for You). Observe the lofty call of the heart:
For you / I can become a river . . . / Which flows to the sea, huge and grand . . . / I can try / To change the colour of the sky / And to blossom the flowering shrub . . . / I can melt / asunder within moment / From ice to waterdrops / I can become Behula for you . And then, softly, almost on tiptoe, love transforms itself into the lyrically passionate. In the Bengali original, Bolgahara, is captured the essence of the throbbing of the heart:
Nebhena kokhono
Amar koshter bonhidohon
Hridoyer pothe tumi shudhu jege thako . . .
It is a journey of the soul you undertake through the poetry. There is longing, interspersed with the intensity of desire. Something stirs in the heart.
Syed Badrul Ahsan is Editor, Star Books Review and Star Literature
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