Xiter Xexer Gan (Winter’s End)

   
Xiter Xexer Gan
  
Xondhe be`lae, ilxe-guri-brixt’i elo bhexe,
Khuxi mone tai to coli, jodio bheje matha.
Bhabchi khali – bo`xonto-kal axbe ebar dexe,
Xiter rajar dapot’ theke, khalax pabo xexe.

Ilxe-guri, ilxe-guri – chot’o be`lar gan –
Por’che mone.  Bhijchi ami, khulchi na tao chata.
Lagche e`khon, xorir-mone, nijer dexer t’an.
Tai to gho`re likhbo boxe, xiter xexer gan.

19e Marc, 2014
Bruklin, Niu Io`rk
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For an explanation of the transliteration scheme, see:
   Bharot Xadhin (India, Free) – 2014 Feb. 8th, Sat.
  
http://thedailypoet.blogspot.com/2014/02/bharot-xadhin-indias-freedom.html
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The two translations that follow below are not always literal.
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Winter’s End

With the evening, comes the rain, as fine as hilsa-roe.
And so I walk in happiness, despite my dampened head.
I think, perhaps this gentle rain is heralding the spring,
And so we'll soon be freed, at last, of all of winter’s dread.

“Hilsa roe, oh hilsa roe, that softly drifts to earth…”
I remember childhood songs while walking through this rain.
The motherland is tugging on my body and my soul,
And that is why I mouth this verse, at bitter winter’s end.

2014 March 19th, Wed.
Brooklyn, New York
   
Note:  The hilsa (ilish, in Bengali) is a fish that swims back in from  the Bay of Bengal to spawn in the rivers of the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta.  The fish and its roe are considered great delicacies in Bengal and adjoining areas. Bengalis who have ended up on the Atlantic coast of the U.S. sometimes use a local fish, the shad, as a substitute. But it is not the same.

A very soft drizzle, with tiny drifting droplets, is sometimes called ilshe-guri ("hilsa grains") -- a reference to the fine texture of the hilsa roe, with its very small egg-grains.

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The translation below, into Afrikaans, was done using  http://google.com/translate.
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Winter's End 
   
Met die aand, kom die reën, so fyn soos hilsa-gemsbok.
En so het ek loop in geluk, ten spyte van my gedemp kop.
Ek dink, miskien is dit sag reën aankondig die lente,
En ons sal binnekort vrygelaat word, op die laaste, van al die winter se vrees.

"Hilsa gemsbok, o hilsa gemsbok, wat saggies dryf na die aarde ..."
Ek onthou kinderjare songs terwyl loop deur middel van hierdie reën.
Die moederland is pluk op my liggaam en my siel,
En dit is hoekom ek gerugte hierdie vers, by bitter winter se einde. *

Woensdag 19 Maart 2014
Brooklyn, Nuwe York 

* En dit is die rede waarom ek praat hierdie vers, by bitter winter se einde.

Let wel: Die hilsa (ilish, in Bengali) is 'n vis wat swem terug in die Baai van Bengale te kuit in die klowe van die Ganga-Brahmaputra delta. Die vis en sy gemsbok word beskou as groot lekkernye in Bengal en aangrensende gebiede. Bengalen wat geëindig het op die Atlantiese kus van die VSA soms gebruik om 'n plaaslike vis, die elf, as 'n plaasvervanger. Maar dit is nie dieselfde nie.

'N baie sagte motreën, met 'n klein dryf druppels, soms genoem ilshe-guri ("hilsa korrels") - 'n verwysing na die fyn tekstuur van die hilsa gemsbok, met sy baie klein eier-korrels.