A&L Nov_2018

From 15
To return to the subject of sonnets, the compendium by Jibanananda, taken
as a whole, constitutes a paean to Bengal, to the physical land with
its flora and fauna as well as to its folklore tradition. In this collection of
Mohammad Rafiq’s poetry in translation, we find a fair number of sonnets
(chaturdashpadi, or literally, “fourteen-line lyrics”), most prominently in
a section entitled “Kirtinasha,” the individual poems of which are labeled
alphabetically, A through Z. Incidentally, Kirtinasha, as a separate book of
poetry, was published in 1979 and received the Alaol award for literature
that year, named for Syed Alaol, a famous Bengali poet of the seventeenth
century. “A” begins with the quatrain:
at the river’s edge ambushing
shadows huddle in the mud
rasping breaths echo in the dusk
it’s only evening, not doomsday
Twenty-six individual poems later—the roman alphabet, of course, has
twenty-six letters—“Z,” which is not a fourteen-line sonnet structure but
instead a lyric with sixteen lines divided into four quatrains, ends in the
following way:
dumbstruck night grips the moorings, villages, towns
these stories of new life are just tall tales, empty talk
mountains, plains, springs, and stretching tamarisk—
is there any other destiny, Kirtinasha?
(Of interest for the non-Bangla-knowing audience, it should be noted
that the Bangla alphabet has far more than twenty-six letters; the alphabetical
titles for the twenty-six lyrics within the translated “Kirtinasha”
section of this anthology do not correspond to the order and number of
the Bangla alphabetical titles in the original Kirtinasha.)
It strikes me as important to consider for a moment two interrelated
issues: first, the audience for these translations; and second, capitalization
conventions. I shall address the issue of audience first. This book is
to be published in Bangladesh, initially. It may or may not find its way
into the greater world market. I cannot say for sure. But, knowing that it
will be published in Bangladesh, I ask myself: who will be the audience?
There is a large English-speaking population in Bangladesh. Of that I am
well aware. Many if not most of the English-literate population is bilingual,
knowing both English and Bangla. There is certainly a segment of
the Bangladesh population that knows English but not Bangla. For those
in Bangladesh, both Bangla speakers and others, “Kirtinasha” is almost
certainly recognizable as the name of a river. I presume the majority of
readers will also be aware of the literal meaning of that river’s name, “destroyer
of glory,” and the implications of the name as it pertains to the
powerful and destructive nature of a river in the Gangetic delta, that delta
constituting a major portion of Bangladesh’s geography. The final line in
the “Z” lyric, cited above, coming as it does from the cycle titled “Kirtinasha,”
suggests that the entire cycle of poems, “A” to “Z,” is an apostrophe,
addressed poetically to the river and by metonymic extension to Bangladesh
herself. But there is far more in the Kirtinasha collection than the
river. We read, for instance, of Behula and the merchant Chand Saodagar
from the Hindu-oriented tale that speaks to the power, both deadly and
restorative, of Manasa, goddess of snakes. We come across names of people,
of places, of rivers, of fish and fruit and flowers, and of months of
the year, each in their transliterated romanised spelling, of course. People,
places, rivers, and months of the year are capitalised; fish, fruit, and flowers
are not. For those in Bangladesh, most if not all ofthose references are
intelligible. For the English-reading audience outsideBangladesh, those
lexical items might be baffling or simply words or names devoid of any
specific meaning. (I shall turn to capitalisation a bit later.)
(Abridged)
Rohingya issue raised at the 84th PEN
International Congress held in India
• Hironmoy Golder
PEN Bangladesh raised their voice on the Rohingya issue at the 84th PEN
International Congress held in Pune, India from 25-29 September, 2018. The
event was jointly hosted by PEN South India and the Savitribai Phule Pune
University (SPPU).
This was the first time India hosted an international congress of PEN, a
98-year-old global writers’ body that was founded in 1921.
This year’s congress had “Truth, Freedom and Diversity,” borrowed from
Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography, as their three thematic axis, in light of India
observing a year-long commemoration of his 150th birth anniversary. To
celebrate literature and exchange ideas and stories of hopes and threats to
freedom of expression, over 400 renowned writers and delegates convened at
Pune representing 150 centres of PEN in over 100 countries around the world.
In the event, internationally acclaimed writers Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o (Kenya),
Perumal Murugan (India), and Nayantara Sahgal (India) were each elected as
Vice President of PEN International for their services to literature. Jennifer
Clement (PEN Mexico) was re-elected as the PEN International President. PEN
Bangladesh brought up the Rohingya issue as the country has been facing a
humanitarian crisis, hosting nearly 1.1 million Rohingya refugees, forcefully
evicted from their homes by the Myanmar authorities in what the UN has
termed a, “textbook case of ethnic cleansing.” PEN Bangladesh proposed that
PEN International take a resolution to the effect that:
1. Myanmar should own up to its forcible eviction, murder and rape of the
Ethnic Rohingyas.
2. Myanmar should abolish discriminatory laws, policies, and practices
against this and other minority groups.
3. Myanmar must create conducive environment by building trust and guaranteeing
protection, rights, and pathways to citizenship of all Rohingyas.
4. Myanmar should rehabilitate the refugees and ensure safety and security
of the ethnic group.
5. Schools and other facilities for children should be set up so that their education
is not hampered. Many schools were set on fire in Rohingya areas.
6. Myanmar should ensure freedom of expression and immediate release of
the two Reuters journalists for writing on the Army's killing of the Rohingyas.
The Congress also consisted of literary events such as visits to schools and
universities, participation in language pilgrimages, a singing rally, and setting
up of a global Language Park located on a one-acre plot on the premises of the
SPPU, where each of the 80 trees will symbolise a major or minor language.
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DHAKA TRIBUNE | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2018
ARTS & LETTERS