Odia poem by Sujata Mohapatra
Translated by Isha Bharadwaj
Am I the gleaming smooth stone
Polished by the crushing waterfall
Emerging from the conflicting tall peaks of Deomali?
Or the that skyscraping, penetrating tree in the
Dense forest of Koraput,
Whose ultimate goal is to just for once, touch the sky!
Who am I? What am I?
I am the childhood spent in,
The cuddling caring waves of Indravati
And the roaring thunder energy of Nagabali
The childhood spent hoping from one river bank to other.
Those murky forest trees,
The cascading waterfalls and
The tall mighty mountains
They are my acquaintance,
My lifelines.
With a pen from the upright Saargi tree
With the ink of flowers of flaxseed
Along the hushed gentle shores caressing the river bed
That, right there, I write my autobiography, my poetry.
To me,
Love is the simple fragrance in the forest breeze
To me,
Pride and morale is the fire that burns and burns.
Me, my personality, my confidence
Religion, love, my self-respect
It seeps from this soil and it ends in this soil.
Kandha, Paraja and Desia
They define my existence, my society.
I am the law of the land,
I am the order of the land.
I am what I call, the Constitution of my land.
I reside in the sweet luxury of Mahula
In the unique tradition of Geet-Kudia
I am a simple ordinary person
Risen from the soil of my land.
I am candid.
I am serene.
I am assertive.
I am, yet, un-tamed and individualistic.
(Dedicated to that Koraput, chorabali by Sujata Mohapatra)
Author’s Bio
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Sujata Mohapatra is an emerging influential poet and author of the modern Odia Literature. With her soul-stirring poems and quick-witted stories, she can easily awe the audience. Debipakhya, Sutakhiare Samparka and Chorabali are three of her published book of poetry collection, and she plans to swoon the readers soon with an upcoming Novel and collection of some of her terrific short-stories. She is a voice for the indigenous odia language and its rich culture. You can reach out to her at mitakiran@gmail.com
Translator’s Bio
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Isha Bharadwaj is a poet akin to English Literature. For her, poetry is all but a form of emotion that renders the voice of the society. True to her thoughts, her poems speak for themselves impelling the world to be a better place. Her originals have been published in various national and international magazines. Currently, for her love for Odia Literature and with an aim to present its richness to the world, she is working on translating odia poems into English. You can reach out to her at ishabharadwaj08@gmail.com
Beautiful poem. Wish to see many poems like this from the author.