Amader chhoto nodi chole bnāke bnāke/Our little river


Amader chhoto nodi chole bnāke bnāke

Amader chhoto nodi chole bnāke bnāke
Boishakh maashe tay hnatu jol thake.
Paar hoe jay goru, paar hoy gaari –
Dui dhaar unchu taar, dhalu taar paari.

Chik chik kore baali, kotha nai kada;
Ekdhare kaash bon – fule fule saada.
Kichi michi kore setha shaliker jhaak,
Raate othe theke theke sheyal-er hnaak.

Aar paare aam bon, taal bon chole-
Gnaaer bamun para tari chaaya tole.
Teere teere chele meye nahibaar kaale,
Gamchai jol bhori, gaye tara dhale.

Shokale bikale kobhu nawa hole pore
Anchole chankiya tara choto mach dhore.
Bali diya maaje thaala, ghotiguli maaje,
Bodhura kapor keche jay grihokaaje.

AshaRe badol naame, nodi bhoro-bhoro-
Matiya chutiya chole dhaara khorotoro.
Mahabege kalkal kolahol othe,
Ghola jole pakguli ghure ghure chote.
Dui kule bone bone pore jay shara,
boroshar utshabe jege othe paara.

Our little river

Our little river flows in graceful loops
The summer heat dries her to a gentle flow,
Both cart and cattle travel across with ease
Her banks are high, her depths are shallow

The sand bed glitters, no trace of mud
The far bank shimmers with Kash flowers white,
where flocks of mynas chirp busily all day
And jackal calls arise at night

This bank shelters sleepy hamlets in the shade
Of ranks of ancient mango and palm tree
At bath times, children swim and play
Splashing water at each other in noisy glee

Each day as their bathing is done
They catch little fish in nets of cloth
Women take home their pots scrubbed clean
Their washing all done, they return to their chores

When the rains descend, the river swells fast
Rushing waters raise voice in happy uproar,
The muddy torrent spins in eddies and swirls
Both banks uniting in joyous clamour
Awake, to join in the festival of rain

5 thoughts on “Amader chhoto nodi chole bnāke bnāke/Our little river

  1. I wont get into the argument of greatest or best ……but to tell you that …when am sad …I listen to his songs ; in different renditions ; when I am away , out of the country …I listen to his songs , which almost makes me smell the earth of my land ; when am lonesome …I feel his songs strike a chord somewhere to lift me ….life would surely have been different without him …and to think that I discovered him so late ….despite the pushing and prodding of Patha Bhavan Sahitya Sabhas …..Its really great effort Sujata ….

    • Andrea, thanks so much for the comment. Do let me know if there are any other children’s verses you would like to read. Could I ask you why you are trying to learn Bengali?

  2. It’s an absolute honour to be born in the same state where this God of literature took birth

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