সংলাপ

প্রথম ব্যক্তি – “আমি লিবেরাল মশাই”
দ্বিতীয় ব্যক্তি – “আপনি বেড়াল লিবেন কি লিবেননি তা আমি কি করে বলব?”

A translation of a Bangla song written by Fakir Lalon Shah

___________________________

I’ve never ever seen him in all my days –
There’s a mystical village near my home
Where a certain neighbor lives

Beyond deep waters, lies this neighbor’s dwelling
There are no banks,
No boats for the crossing –
Tell me then, how am I supposed to go there?

What can I tell you about this neighbor?
He has no body, head, hands, or feet
One moment he soars through the air
The next he skims the water

If this neighbor even touched me once
I’d be able to shake off my mortal fears
Yet he and Lalon live in the same place
Still there is a gap of a thousand miles!
_______________________

*No one has any business trying to translate any of Fakir Lalon Shah’s deceptively simple Bangla folks songs and especially “barir kache arshi nogor.” Go easy on me. Please.

Bengali comics -14 বাংলা কমিক্‌স – ভাষা বিভ্রাট

(Bhalomanush Bangla comics)

Bangla e-greeting you can use to say you’re sorry

There is a cliche from Eric Segal’s Love Story, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Nowadays, everyone uses e-greetings to say sorry, so much that these have replaced polite conversation in our lives.

Here is an e-greeting with Soumitra Banerjee, villian of Tollywood Bangla films of the 80s and 90s, that you can give to your loved one when s/he is angry because you’ve done something wrong. Use at your own risk!