নীলকন্ঠ মল্লিকের দশটি ছড়া

ওহে কবি জীবনানন্দ, চেয়ে দেখো তোমার ধানসিড়ি
নদীর পাড়ে উঠেছে ধোঁয়া, ইঁটভাটাতে পোড়া বিড়ি

তোমার বেঙ্গালুরু, আমার গাদিয়াড়া
দেখো কবিগুরু, নোবেল নিল কারা

উঠতি বয়েস,কুর্তি পরে ললনা রঙিন
পাড়ার ছোকরা মুগুর ভাঁজে হবে ম্যাসকুলিন

ল্যান্ডলাইন বলে, ‘ওহে মোবাইল, আমি বয়জ্যেষ্ঠ’
মোবাইল বলে,  ‘আবার বল, লাইনটা ফাটাকেষ্ট’

টেস্ট ম্যাচ-এরে খেলতে গিয়া করসে হালা ক’রান
ভাবতেসি আর কান্দতেসে অন্তরে মোর পরান

সত্য সেলুকাস বলি গপ্প লেখ ইতিহাস
দেশটা যে জটিল, মুচকি হাসলে অশ্লীল

রথে মিষ্টান্ন সেবন করিতে কদাপি
বায়না করিবেন না রাসুময়রার জিলাপি

রাসমঞ্চে যেমন নাচেন শুনে গোসাঁই, “কালা”
তেমন নাচেন ডিস্কোঠেকে যুবক গাঞ্জাওয়ালা

খেতে ভালো লাগে যাদের তাদের কানে বলি
সয়াসসে সটে করুন চিকেন উইথ ব্রকলি

দেখি রাজ্যে কত রঙ্গ, পশিমবঙ্গ হবে বঙ্গ
আমি পশ্চিম দেশের হ্যাংলা, আমার চোখে জয়-বাংলা

কবি নীলকন্ঠ মল্লিক (বৈকুন্ঠ মল্লিকের কনিষ্ট ভ্রাতা)

বর্ষা

… আয় রে খোকা, যাবি জোকা, তরী করবে পার
এসপ্ল্যানেডে সাঁতার কেটে যাওয়া হল ভার

কলিকালে বাদল দিনে বলেন কর্পোরেশন
ঝরবে যত সহজ তত আর্বান ইরিগেশন

গাঙ্গে এলো জোয়ার
বালির বস্তা দুয়ার

বরষার হল আগমন চারিদিকে দেখি জল
আর্দ্র বাতাসে জীবাণু চড়ানো পকেটে তিনিডাজল

আষাঢ় শ্রাবণ মশার কামড় যুক্ত হল এমন
লোকাল ট্রেনে যাত্রী চেনে র চা আর লেমন

Genu Gayen, Bapi Bayen

Yes, now we will be subjected to the adventures of Genu Gayen and Bapi Bayen. It is a good thing  that Satyajit Ray was cremated.

A friend of mine said that once Rabindranath died, we started to live off of every hair from his beard that he shed. Every year at the Kolkata Book Fair there are hundreds of scholarly books still published on Rabindranath Tagore. When Satyajit Ray died, there was a mad scramble of every scrap of paper he ever wrote on, every unfinished story and every outline.

And now we have other writers making spin-offs of their immortal creations!

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.

Tintin in Bangla (quiz questions contributed by Arindam Panda)

Thanks to him for contributing. There are many websites where the complete Tintin stories are available in Bangla such as this blog here.

The Black Island (Krishnodiper Rohosyo):-

  1. What was the name of Ranko’s master?
  2. What is the full name of Muller also known as Prof. Smith?
  3. In Muller’s compound when Tintin was trapped an alarm went on. What was the number of the trap in which Tintin stepped in?
  4. Muller tried to send Tintin in an asylum. What was the name of that asylum’s head doctor?
  5. What was the name of the head of the fire department whose men saved Tintin from Muller’s house and who always misplaced his key for his wife’s jam cupboard key?
  6. What was Muller’s driver name?
  7. Can you remember the registration no. of the car in which Muller fled with his driver with a bag full of money that was landed by a plane in Muller’s compound?
  8. Next Muller and Tintin met each other in an inn. Can you name it?
  9. From where did Muller, Tintin and Thompson and Thompson fly towards Scottish coast?
  10. Tell us the registration numbers of their planes.
  11. What was the name of the fort on the Black Island?
  12. What is the distance between Kiltoch and place where Tintin landed?
  13. Name four policemen who helped Tintin in Black Island.
  14. What is the edition no. of ‘The Daily Reporter’ or ‘Doinik Songbad’ where finally the whole scandal was revealed?
  15. At the beginning of the story where did the unregistered plane crash?

Answers:-

  1. Puschov
  2. Dr. J.W. Muller
  3. No. 9
  4. Dr. Horncliffe
  5. Fred
  6. Evan
  7. ABP 4030
  8. White Hart
  9. Halchester Flying Club
  10. Muller- G-AREI, Tintin- G-ARCR, Thompson and Thompson- G-AIR
  11. Castle of ‘Craig Dhui’
  12. 15 miles
  13. E. McGregor, T.W. Stewart, B. Robertson and A. MacLeod
  14. No. 11.432
  15. Eastdown in Sussex

The Secret Of The Unicorn (Bombete Jahaj):-

  1. What Was Mr. Sakharine’s Full name? Tell his address.
  2. What was the name of the dog of the fat lady in the red phone booth?
  3. What was written on the parchment which was in mainmast (mastul) of those ships?
  4. Who was ‘Diego the dreadful’?
  5. What Was Tintin’s address?
  6. What is the name of Tintin’s landlady?
  7. Thomson and Thompson got a coat from the famous pickpocket. To track down him they tried the stitch marks of the coat. Can you tell us what the no. was? Did they find him? If they did can you tell us the name of the laundry?
  8. Who Was Mr. Aristides Silk and what was his profession?
  9. Who was Barnaby?
  10. What were the full names of Bird Brothers?
  11. What was the registration no. of their car?
  12. What was the Latitude and Longitude indicating Red Rackham’s treasure?
  13. When Tintin bought the ship from market how much did he pay?

Answers:-

  1. Van Ivanovitch Sakharine. 21, Eucalyptus Avenue
  2. Fifi
  3. “Three brothers joined. Three unicornes in company sailing in the noonday sunne will speak. For’tis from the light that light will dawn and then shines forth. The eagle cross” or in Bengali “Tin bhai.. tin jahaj.. dupurbelay jatra..surjo poth batlay..alo thekei ase alo..tatei andhar kate..eagle cross”
  4. Red Reckham’s trusty right hand
  5. 26, Labrador Road
  6. Mrs. Finch
  7. The no. was 314731. Stellar Cleaners
  8. He was the famous pickpocket. He was a retired civil servant and kleptomaniac. He adored wallets. He was collecting wallets through 3 months.
  9. The man with blue Suit. He was shot down in front of Tintin’s house. He worked for Bird Brothers.
  10. Max Bird and G. Bird.
  11. LX 188
  12. 20 37 42 N, 70 52 15 W
  13. Seventeen Pounds and six Shillings.

I’m grateful to Arindam Panda for contributing these questions.