Last Night

ప్రముఖ కవి బాల గంగాధర్ తిలక్ ‘ నిన్న రాత్రి’ కవితను ఇంగ్లీషు లోకి అనువదించిన కవిత

Last Night
-Dr. Vani Devulapalli

Tell me a word
Whether I said anything
Whether I told God anything
When He came to me last night
Sat on my bed and looked at me piteously
Keeping His eyes downcast!

Did I ask Him about the boy
Who had committed suicide
Aspiring to fulfil his hunger in futility

Did I tell Him the pathetic story
About the prostitute who sold her youth
She, being frustrated in the
Twilight of her life
Ended her tired life by hanging

Did I show Him the crumbled heart of
An extremely old woman
Who jumped into the river
After hearing the sad news of
Her son’s tragic death in the war against China
Did I explain the dreadful story of
Charred human corpses and human misery
In fuming fire in Congo, Cuba, Cyprus and Laos

Tell me the truth
Tell me the truth
Did I ask Him
Did I accuse Him
Did I arrest Him
To tell me about
You and myself
And about the entirety of the whole creation
About the quiet bowl of heart
Brimmed with poison

I know it, I know
The secret underlying it all
I know the tears rolling down
The cheeks of God pathetically
In the light of the lamp
I saw it all
I stood up with pity
Hugged Him
Consoled Him wiping His tears
I sent Him off at the end of the street

I know it all
I know Him pretty well
When man turns into a monster
And revolts against Him
He can’t harm such a man
Thinking that he is His child
Such a gentleman is He !