Into the soul of mysticism
Syed Badrul Ahsan takes a plunge into the soulful
There is forever a requirement of culture, a need to go back to it in order to move on. Haroonuzzaman clearly seems to be doing that, especially through a reinforcing of the streams of Bengali thought which have regularly contributed to an enrichment of Bengali cultural tradition. An academic, Haroonuzzaman has in recent years distinguished himself through purposeful forays into heritage territory, through coming forth with original works as well as reinventing the old ties that have bound generations of Bengalis one to another. And here is evidence of how Haroonuzzaman means to keep us riveted to the ideas that have been of fundamental import for us through our long history. Obviously, these ideas come encapsulated in literature. What Haroonuzzaman does is to take a serious, deep dive into the spirituality of literature, through taking us by the hand, as it were, into a reinvention of the baul literature which has acted as a solidifying element in the construction of aesthetics in this country. In the present context, the scholar brings readers in contact once more with Lalon. You could argue that Lalon literature may have by now earned the reputation of having been much overused, that not much more light can be made to shine on him when nearly everything has been said about him. Haroonuzzaman's take is of a different kind, of course. He selects some seminal songs from the poet of spiritualism and strives to reshape them in the English language. That is just as well, for most earlier translations of Lalon songs into English have lacked the substantiveness one expects of such poetry. Note the following: There is the man in this world, I say / What is he? What is his shape? / I can't see. . Go back to the original boli re manush manush ei jogote / ki bostu, kemon akaar / na pai dekhi-te. The translator comes close to how Lalon looked at the dilemma. Of course, something always goes missing in translation, but Haroonuzzaman's ability to approximate the profundity in the poet-mystic is what draws attention. Observe now the writer's approach to that permanence of a song, aami ek dino na dekhilam tare: Not a single day I could see him / So near is Arshi Nagar / There lives a neighbour… Shades of the prosaic? Perhaps, but Haroonuzzaman's preoccupation is clearly one of getting the message across. He does that, not least because of the extensive deliberations on baul philosophy he brings into a rendering of the tale. It would be pointless going straight for the translated poetry before you have coursed through the introduction, where Haroonuzzaman expands on the theme of baul literature in its wider dimensions, to an extent that is as educative as it is revealing. You get more of the same in Haroonuzzaman's study of Radharomon, which for many is an esoteric subject to tackle. And yet Radharomon remains a pivotal figure in the making and growth of Bengali spiritual as well as literary consciousness, his presence a perpetual one in songs and mystic philosophy. Haroonuzzaman begins, as he does with Lalon, through delving into the undercurrent of baul philosophy before he moves on to give readers a picture of Radharomon's background through a graphic presentation of his family tree. He does a similar thing in the case of Lalon. Now, these family trees are of particular significance because you do not come by them much, in these times. The sadness is in knowing that writers all too often are content to slap on readers the works, original as well as translations, of illustrious men and women, without much thought to enlightening us on the background of such individuals. To be sure, Haroonuzzaman could have opted, to our immense benefit, for extended essays on Lalon and Radharomon. He has not, of course, which is why one must remain content with the family trees. Again, these trees do provide us with the rudiments of material that are so much a requirement all these centuries after the passing of spirituality. Radharomon speaks to the soul. He is of the soul. Observe how Haroonuzzaman cuts through the mystery, to emerge with these translated lines from one of the poems: Keeping the golden Moyna inside / It has been locked from outside / Who is that amusing person who has made this cage? And here is another: In this man is that man / O my mind, think about it / Take an attempt to see him / With your inner eye wide open . . . Lalon and Radharomon belong in the thickness of time's mist. Haroonuzzaman opens a few windows for us to glimpse segments of that world.
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