TRANSLATED POEM "CHALLA"

 

DO WALK.

 

O friend! How often do you urge, “Hark!”

Walk fast, and walk quickly?

For, the limbs are afflicted by thorns severely

After a terrible stumble in the dark.

 

You’ll keep lying on the floor every night’

And this is never the tyranny of your destiny;

Feed the little lamp and hold that tight;

And the day is about to dawn an instant within.

 

Why are you hiding at home, brother

Soon after trumpeting the bugle of war?

Why are you so scared of, my boatman, I pray

After witnessing the soaring tides in the Bay?

 

Do trust me; your restless wait ends here,

For, the beautiful port of your hope is so near.

 

 

N. B.: The above poem is the English version of an Odia poem, "CHALLA" written by Kuntala Kumara Sabat.

Copyright: Dr Shankar D Mishra, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India 15.03.2023