Skip to main content

RAJU SYANGTANG


Desires of Chyangba

Chyangba!
You said you would go to Yambu1
Can you buy the road for you?
Can you buy the soil?
You need to purchase some affection
And your own shadow too
You also need to buy the blow of the wind
That comes here in chiyorten2 and gumba
To sing the selo songs
Can you buy them all?

If you cannot afford
Do not worry, Chyangba
Yambu will buy you!

Once it buys you
It will ask for your heart
And then your eyes, your tongue
Not satisfied
It will ask for your cap, your damphu3
And the bird over the damphu

You will then become
A modern Chyangba
Chyang will be your new name
And Yambu will beat
A modern drum
Made out of your great grandfather’s skin
Who worked as a potter for them
Outside the mortuary of your own dream
You shall play the skeleton of your body as a sarangi
And sing-
“Woven from hundred flowers
The garland is we Nepali”4

Chyangba!
Look, it suits you so well
This Tamang cap!
Do not be the so-called modern Chyangba
Rather take out your old dhyangro
Let us go, you and me
And from the edge of the time
Let us drum it loud
And make everyone hear
The story of
Our stolen Yambu.
                                        
                                                    (Translated from Nepali by Keshab Sigdel)
---
1 Yambu is a Tamang name for Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal.  
2 Chiyorten is a small mound built in memory of the dead person.
3 Damphu and dhyangro are traditional drums used by Tamangs.
4 These lines are a part of Nepal’s national anthem.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

प्राज्ञहरु आफैं राजनैतिक नेतृत्वको दास हुने बाटो रोजेका छन्

केशव सिग्देलसँगको युगबाणी सम्बाद प्रकाशित मिति: २०७५ फागुन १८ नेपाली साहित्यको वर्तमान अवस्थालाई कसरी मूल्याङ्कन गर्नु भएको छ? नेपाली साहित्यको सिर्जनशिल फाँटले व्यापकता पाउँदै गएको छ। समाजको विकाससँगै जुन नयाँ मुद्दाहरु हामीले पाएका छौं, त्यसले विषयवस्तुको व्यापकतामात्रै बढेको छैन, नेपाली लेखकहरुको विश्वसाहित्यसँगको अन्तरक्रिया पनि बढेको छ। कम्तिमा हिन्दी र अङ्ग्रेजीमा उपलब्ध विदेशी साहित्यको अध्ययनले हाम्रो लेखनलाई विषय र प्रस्तुतीको हिसाबले अझ सम्मुनत पार्दै पनि लगेको छ। लैङ्गिक समानता, पहिचान, विज्ञानप्रविधिको प्रभावजस्ता विषयहरुले नै लेखनको संरचनामा नविनता माग गरिरहेका हुन्छन्। र सचेत ढङ्गले नयाँ पुस्ताकोको हस्तक्षेप बढेको छ।  पछिल्लो लेखनमा साधना कम भयो भन्ने आरोप पनि छ नि? त्यो स्वाभाविक छ। सबै लेखकहरु उत्तिकै गम्भिरतापूर्वक लेख्न सक्छन् भन्ने छ्रैन। सबै यसमा टिकिरहन्छन् भन्ने पनि छैन। अथवा टिकिरहे पनि राम्रा सिर्जना आइरहन्छन् भन्ने पनि होइन। तर साहित्यमा जुन सचेतताका साथ काम भइरहेको छ, त्यो सकारात्मक छ। साधना गर्नेहरुका सिर्जना दीर्घजिवी हुन्छन्। अरु केही समयपछि ह...
Post a Comment
Read more

Men, Words and Metaphors: An Interview by Isha Gharti

Interview re-posted from   Fr ! day Bal Bahadur Thapa (Balu), Keshab Sigdel and Prakash Subedi, represent the Nepali poets/writers of the new generation. Over the last decade, in addition to their powerful writing, they have been very active in the literary scene. They have contributed to the theatre and film scenario and have been active through organizations such as Society of Nepalese Writers in English (NWEN), Literary Association of Nepal (LAN) and Devkota Study and Research Center (DSRC). Apt with skills, substance and a will to contribute to national literature, they are a strong force to be reckoned with. Steadily gaining national and international recognition, they are slowly changing the scene of English writing in Nepal. What made you get into literature? Bal Bahadur: “I used to read a lot when I was young, everything from Hindi comics, like Bankelal to Prakash Kobit to Thomas Hardy, which is what inspired me to write, though I only started writing afte...
2 comments
Read more

My Poems in Chinese Translation

Two Poems: "Colour of the Sun" and "   Wonders of a Leaf" Translated into Chinese by poet Yang Zongze ( 杨宗泽   ) [ 尼泊尔 ]   凯沙布·西格德尔 太阳的颜色        （外一首） 女儿正忙于为自己的思想着色 。 手指不停地 在纸板上的画面上移动 ， 划来划去 。 “太阳是什么颜色的—— 黄色的，橘黄色的还是深红色的？ 谁知道太阳是什么颜色的？” 她拿着一支彩色铅笔， 用小刀一个劲地削， 铅笔芯断了一次又一次， 她的神情越来越紧张 烦躁， 不安， 她抬起头，慢慢转向我， 用迷惑的眼神看着我。 她的眼神告诉我她此刻的心境， 她似乎在问我太阳是什么样色的。 我从来没有近距离地接近太阳为它着色， 我也不知道太阳的颜色， 只是经常憎恨它带来的炙热， 但又害怕它的缺席。至于它的颜色？ 太阳到底有没有颜色？ 太阳和我小女儿一起笑了，我不知道 如何告诉她微笑是什么颜色。 外面，雨下得很大， 屋里，我的意识里浮现出一个阴冷而 荒凉的湖，太阳倒映在湖上。 湖里的太阳是什么颜色的？ 也许，就是我心里的那种颜色。 我对女儿说—— 画你自己 心中 的太阳吧，孩子！ 叶子的奇迹 躺在床上 我梦见一只毛毛虫。 这只毛毛虫 在我身上停了下来 , 开始梦一片叶子。 我躺着 , 毛毛虫爬在我身上， 用它无数的手和脚 抚慰我， 让我兴奋。 肚子对着肚子， 毛毛虫和我 都沉浸在梦里。 毛毛虫 触摸我， 召唤我， 压榨我 , 吮吸我， 然后，变成一只蝴蝶。 在梦里， 我被毛毛虫触摸得很兴奋 , 心甘情愿地 被它吃掉了； 只留下生命中的神秘。 我感到纳闷 : 难道这只 蝴蝶是我 爱 的归宿 ， 是我终极的梦 ？ ......        （ 杨宗泽 译） 凯沙布·西格德...
Post a Comment
Read more