Kill What You Eat--and Eat What You Kill

 
  Kill  What You Eat—and Eat What You Kill

  While walking in the park, I met
  an elder—and we talked.
  And what he told me gave me pause—
  and later gave me woe .

“Kill, what you eat, yourself, my friend,”
  the elder said to me.
“Do not depend on others, who
  are slaving, out of sight.

“The food you eat, the clothes you wear,
  your trinkets and your toys—
  attempt to kill or make yourself,
  or know their provenance

“The lights and gadgets in your home
  and where you go to work,
  the vehicles on which you ride,
  the roads on which they run—

“the fuels for these things as well—
  are made for you by others
  and brought to you by others or
  the conduits they have made.

“These actions all rely upon
  the slaughters, small and large,
  of beasts (and even human ones),
  and plants—and things that we

“may think are lifeless, yet have lives,
  although of other sorts—
  the mountains, plains and valleys and
  the oceans, lakes and streams.

“If you would have the hearing, you
  would hear their groans and screams.
  The air, that we are breathing, too,
  has a life that you can feel."

  And spreading out his arms, he then
  inhaled the city's air
  and slowly then exhaled that breath,
  let down his arms and smiled.

“This air we’re breathing, you and I,
  though often breathed before,
  would be as fresh, if not for Man,
  as when the plants had risen.”

  He said these things—and made me think.
  I thought: he must be mad.
  And so I said goodbye and left—
  but could not sleep at night.

“Kill what you eat,” he’d said, “and eat
  whatever you've killed, my friend.”
  as he'd gestured 'round at the earth and the sky
  and the trees and the works of Man.

  Kill what I eat?  Oh, how absurd!
  And eat what I kill?  That’s mad!
  I tried to put this out of my head,
  but I felt his words return.

  And ever since then, I've felt unease
  and even unwell at times.
  As I'd like you to share in my misery, I
  am passing this on in my turn.

  2018 December 29?, Thu?day
  Brooklyn, New York 

Go`nga Nodir Tire—গঙ্গা নদীর তীরে—By the Banks of the Ganges—गंगा के किनारे—گنگا کے کنارے

The poem, in Bengali script, is followed by a recording, then by two Roman transcriptions, and finally by a free translation into English.

Note:  Translations into Hindi-Urdu (the Urdu being from the Hindi via http://google.com/translate ) have been added at the end of this post.

In the Hindi translation (written in Devanagari script), the words used are, with some exceptions, mainly those of the lingua franca spoken in many of the cities and villages of the northern and central subcontinent, rather than those of the more formal, Sanskritized Hindi.

This popular form of Hindi-Urdu, used by Hindus, Muslims and others, had fewer borrowings from Arabic and Farsi than literary Urdu. Some used to call it "Hindustani", before the Partition of 1947.  It is still very much in use, in both India and Pakistan, and is widely understood in both countries.

Comments, criticism and corrections are very much needed.  These can be made through the small "Post a comment." link near the bottom of this post (above the "Links to this post" heading), or via e-mail to sjanah@aol.com.
----------------------------------

Young Man by the Ganges, Facebook post by Arati Kumar-Rao
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153535170976360&set=a.10150203885481360.312138.697771359
(Click the "See more" link at the end of the text in the Facebook post.)

   
গঙ্গা নদীর তীরে

গঙ্গা নদীর তীরে,
বইছে হাওয়া আজ৷
বসে আছি আশায় আমি,
মিলবে কবে কাজ?

স্রোতের জোর ত কমছে ক্রমে,
খরচা কমছে না৷
এপ্লিকেসান ভরছি রোজি,
জবাব পাচ্ছি না৷

বুধবার, ১৫-ই জুন, ২০১৬ খ্রি
ব্রুক্লিন, নিউয়র্ক
----------------------------------

This might not be available on mobile phones and some networks.
To hear the audio recording in Google's Chrome browser:
  1) first, click the triangular play button on the right, above;
  2) then click either:
    a) that button again to play the audio in the background (on this page);
    or
    b) the rectangular button on the left, above, for audio at the Vocaroo site.
The procedure in other browsers might be slightly different.
Vocaroo: Record and upload audio >>
----------------------------------
 
Go`nga Nodir Tire

Go`nga nodir tire,
boiche haoa aj.
Boxe achi axae ami,
milbe ko`be kaj.

Sroter jor to komche kro`me,
kho`rca komche na.
E`plikexo`n bhorchi roji,
jo`bab pacchi na. 

Budhbār, 15-i Jun, 2016 khri
Bruklin, Niu Io`rk
----------------------------------

Gaṅgā Nadīr Tīrē

Gaṅgā nadīr tīrē,
ba'ichē hā'ōẏā āj.
Basē āchi āśāẏ āmi,
milbē kabē kāj?

Srōtēr jōr ta kamchē kramē,
kharca kamchē nā.
Ēplikēsān bharchi rōji,
jabāb pācchi nā.

Budhbar, 15-i Jun, 2016 khri
Bruklin, Ni'uẏark
----------------------------------
 
By the Banks of the Ganges

A breeze is blowing from the river.
I sit on the banks and think,
“When will I get a job?”

The river is slowing,
but expenses are not.
I fill out applications,
but I get no replies.

2016, June 15th, Wed.
Brooklyn, New York

---------------------------------- 

गंगा के किनारे

गंगा नदी के किनारों पर,
हवा बह रही है अब।
मैं बैठा रहा हूँ, इस उम्मीद मे --
एक नौकरी मिलेगी कब?

नदी की ताकत कमती रहती है,
लेकिन खर्चे बढ़ रहा है।
हर रोज, आवेदन भेजता रहता हूँ।
लेकिन जवाब मिलता नहीं है।

बुधवार, १५ जून, २०१६ ईस्वी
ब्रुकलीन, न्यूयॉर्क 

----------------------------------

    گنگا کے کنارے 

،گنگا دریا کے کناروں پر 

.ہوا بہہ رہی ہے اب 

-میں بیٹھا رہا ہو، اس امید میں 

ایک نوکری ملے گی کب؟ 

   

،دریا کی طاقت كمتي رہتی ہے 

.یکن خرچ بڑھ رہا ہے 

.ہر روز، درخواست بھیجتا رہتا ہوں 

.لیکن جواب حاصل نہیں ہے 

   

بدھ، ۱۵ جون، ۲۰۱۶ ء 

  بروک لین، نیویارک 

  

----------------------------------

Comments, criticism and corrections are very much needed.  These can be made through the small "Post a comment." link near the bottom of this post (above the "Links to this post" heading)  or via e-mail to sjanah@aol.com.