Maxbabi's Weblog

Tamej khedo chho khetar…

maxbabi — Fri, 09 May 2008 11:56:08 +0000

Tamej khedo chho khetar

Tamej shangaro chho jindagi

Marun shun kahun? Uklatat charu maan

Ek tapkun bhog, ek chaptee bandagi.

(c) Max Babi

Transcreated in English

You yourself plough the field

you yourself adorn a life

What can I say about myself? Inside a boiling cauldron

One drop of carnality, one pinch of worship.

(c) Max Babi

Taari Saathe Vartalaap Maan…

maxbabi — Tue, 06 May 2008 05:33:56 +0000

Taari saathe vartalaap maan

javallej marun dhyaan taari vaat

upar taki rahe chhe.

Sambhalaay chhe mane van-pankhiono

kalarav,

anubhavaay chhe adaabeed jungaloni

niravta,

taari kavitao taara hisaabna

chopdao saathe je

jeevlen chedan kare chhe

e punn.

Sambhalaay chhe mane

avismaraniy drashyona

chitr-vrutant,

click clickna bareek

avaaj saathe

taari digital camerani jadugari

jaane ke

camero taara sharirnun avayavaj

na hoy….

Vichitrata aapna

antiseptic sambandhoni e chhe

ke maarun dhyaan nathi

e vaat par taarun dhyaan rehtunj nathi-

tun etli magn rahe chhe

mane tara shabda-bhandol maan

dubaadva khaatar : daghaee jaun chhun hun

kayrek taari dhaardaar tatpartaathi.

(c) Max Babi 030508

Transcreated in English “

I rarely manage to focus on your words

whenever we converse.

I can hear soft cackling of forest birds

I can sense the chaste silence of the forests

even the liberties your poems take with

your accounts books… too.

I can also hear the sounds

of unforgettable landscapes, their images,

along with click click of your digital camera,

the magic of this instrument

as it it were an extension of your own body….

The oddity in our antiseptic relationship

is that you never focus on the fact

that I fail to focus on your talk-

so lost you remain in your attempts

to drown me in the waterfall of your words :

at times I get awed by the sharpness of

your eagerness.

(c) Max Babi 060508

Angurke Baghaanki Hariyali Ud Chali…

maxbabi — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:44:31 +0000

Angurke baghaanki hariyali

ud chali -ek thakaa-sa sannaata

zorotalbi kasé baitha hai.

Ankh milaao toh phati ankhsé

ghoorta hai, aur tavaarikhke bhaddé

ghair-insaafki musalsal jhalkian

dikhlata hai.

Kuchh yunh taktaa hai jaisé mainé hii

apné dimaaghsé baarbaar vaar karké

uski maasoom dunia ujaad di ho.

Khaufsé dil laraz jata hai-

kahin inn sukhi belon-ki sumsaam

bastiko zubaan phoot nikli toh…..

Meri kitaabon mein har labz saabunké

bulbuléki nimat phat jaega.

Chup rahunga mein sadion tak.

(c) Max Babi

Transcreation in English :

Greenery Of Vineyards Has Fled

Greenery of vineyards has fled-

an almost tired silence sits exercising

an ironclad reign.

If you look at it, well, it stares right back

and flashes myriad instances of ugly

injustice.

It stares as if I only have, with mental strokes,

reduced its innocent world to an arid patch

My world quakes with abject fear

lest this world of dried up vines sprout a tongue

Every word in my books would burst

like a soap-bubble.

I would fall silent for centuries.

(c) Max Babi

“Yeh Khamoshi…” by Ashika ‘Tanha’ duly transcreated

maxbabi — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:06:47 +0000

Yeh khamoshi badi duur tak saath chali,

Dilke sumsaam kone mein katra katra gali,

Tere saathka sannata kuchh apna-sa tha,

Na jaane kyon woh ek pal sapna-sa tha,

Khaalipan mein pyar karna lazmi-sa hota hai,

Saans-ka ana jana teri tasbee-sa hota hai,

Tu mil kar na mil, gavaara hai humdum,

Teri yaad ka ek pal bhi zindagi hai sanam.

(c) Ashika ‘Tanha’

Transcreated in English :

This silence trudged along too far with us,

It dripped drop by drop into a deserted corner of my heart,

With you even your silence seemed as if mine,

Don’t know why that single moment was almost a dream,

In stretches of emptiness, to fall in love is nearly mandatory,

My breathing tends to become a litany of your name,

It’s fine with me if you meet me but remain absent,

One memory of yours is like an entire lifetime, love.

(c) Max Babi

Transcreated Poetry

maxbabi — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:31:40 +0000

Welcome everyone!

This is Max Babi’s weblog dealing with ‘Transcreated Poetry’.

Those of us who know more than one language have often felt saddened to see poor quality ‘translations’ because ‘word for word’ technique does not work. It leads at times to amusing, even eye-sore results.

A transcreated poem is written by a poet who has mastered at least two languages. I do that in four, by the way, and I wish to popularize this concept which has been liked immensely by poetry lovers who may be mono-lingual. I happen to have lots of poets as friends who write exceedingly well in their mother tongues but are hesistant to try their hand at translation, or do not like the whole business of word for word translation.

Here’s a randome example originally written by me in Urdu :

Akelapan ek aag hai,

soz-bhara ek raag hai /

Iss-ki agosh mein aa gaye agar,

Toh zindagi buss khaak hai.

(c) Max Babi

Now lets see a word for word translation :-

Loneliness is a fire,

a sadness-filled melody,

If you fall in its embrace,

Life is just ash.

The brief nature of the translation, lends it an unintentional Haiku sort of flavour…

however to the English language reader with a different set of sensitivity and sensibility, the whole exercise may have no particular attractiveness.

How would I myself transcreate this into English ?

Solitude can blaze as a fire

even a melody stuffed with meloncholy,

when embraced even for a moment

life could turn to a heap of ash.

(c) Max Babi

This exercise can be done differently, and I would encourage all poets who may have got the drift of the idea, to try their hands. Often I have seen extraordinary suggestions flow in from readers.

Do feel encouraged to try…

Till next time,

Cheerz!

Max

www.maxbabi.com

www.maxbabi.gather.com

www.maxbabi.facebook.com

Hello world!

maxbabi — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:05:17 +0000

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