Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Writing Prompt, and impromptu writing


Kawaljit Singh gave this picture as the writing prompt on an online forum on Facebook. 
Usually, I am quite pathetic at writing to a prompt, but this time, 2 pieces came out on their own. 

Hindi: 

चांद की डाली,
स्वप्न की डोर,
धरा से धक्का,

अंतरिक्ष का छोर।

चल सखी,
उड़ते हैं।

The moon as our branch
Our dreams as the rope 
From the Earth we take off
To reach the edge of the universe. 

Come, Friend, let's fly. 


Punjabi: 
ਤੂ ਨਿਰਾ ਪੀਁਗਾਁ ਹੂਟੇਯਾਁ ਜੋਗਾ,
ਮੇਰਾ ਚਨ ਤੇ ਬਲਦਾ ਕਿਤੇ ਹੋਰ।
ਤੂ ਨਿਰਾ ਸੁਖਨੇਯਾਁ ਜੋਗਾ,

ਚਨਾ ਸੁਖ ਤੇ ਮੇਰਾ ਕਿਤੇ ਹੋਰ।

Tu nira peenga huteyaan joga,
Mera chann te balda kite hor
Tu nira sukhneyaan joga

Channa sukh te mera kite hor...

You are only good for swings, 
My real moon burns somewhere else 
You are only good for dreams, 
My happiness, dear moon, lies elsewhere. 

Note: Both translations are bad and do no justice to the originals. The originals rely heavily on word play that is inherent in those languages. Hindi literature often uses the rope of a swing as a medium to reach another, distant place. In Punjabi, the beloved male is often called "My moon", unlike in Urdu where the lady is compared to the moon. Also, in Punjabi, the words for dream and happiness come from the same root, so they differ only by one syllable. 



4 comments:

my space said...

Chal sakhi
udte hain ..wah kya baat
True English can just not capture the beauty

How do we know said...

Hi My space: Thank you! You just made my day!

Himanshu Tandon said...

Loved it. I thought the Punjabi one was a class apart...You're back in your element with this, after ages...

How do we know said...

Hi HT: Not yet. I think. After one reaches the halfway house, even the normalisation curve goes downards.