Hemanta (autumn) Has Arrived
ATM Faruque Ahmed
Date: 18.10.2022
Kartik 1, 1429 BS
Late autumn has arrived!
It feels as though a king has come, accompanied by his queen.
Queen Late autumn smiles gently, her face radiant with grace;
Adorned with jewels and pearls, she brings the bounty of the ‘Aman’ rice harvest.
Across fields, wetlands, and open plains, farmers—men and women alike—look around,
Observing the lush green of the paddy and the ceaseless flow of the breeze.
Their gaze remains fixed, lingering,
As the ears of grain fill with milky sap,
Swaying rhythmically in the wind.
What a magnificent sight—the golden sunlight of the morning,
And in the weary, sweltering heat of midday, clouds drift by,
Casting their cooling shadows upon the earth.
In the sweet, mellow light of the afternoon, as twilight descends,
A wondrous, enchanting glow takes hold.
It is as if someone is approaching, wrapped in a cloak of mist;
Tonight, one might catch a glimpse of the ‘Malini’ (the flower-maiden),
Moving along the ridges of the rice fields, playing a biolin.
Drenched in dew, I follow in her wake—
Far away, in the heart of the fields, her reflection shimmers in the waters of a pond.
How blissful it is to sway in the boundless, hushed silence, beneath the moonlight of the eleventh lunar day, with my beloved by my side!
Amidst the ‘Nabanna’ (harvest festival) season of Kartik, I wander along the paddy ridges, soaked in dew, lost in the magic of this lunar phase.
Together with my beloved, beneath a single shawl, we weave a tapestry of dreams.
Through the months of Kartik and Agrahayan, in this land of the new harvest,
I am reborn, forever youthful, carried away by the spirit of youth.
In the deep, submerged waters of the Padma, I search for my ‘Padmavati’ (the lotus-like maiden).
O Agrahayan, you arrive at my doorstep—a queen of the skies on a cloudless night in Kartik—
And I, with a spellbound heart, behold the incomparable beauty of Bengal.
I dream of a golden land—
O you, who wander through my dreams!
Do you ever think of me?
My Queen! Come, let us bow with folded hands—Oh priestess!
Translated by: Abul Khair
