Prabal Kumar Basu

• This happens quite often
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We can talk about anything under the roof
But you are asking about something
On which I have absolutely no knowledge
 
This happens quite often
As a result you lose interest
In whatever I talk about
I have nothing much to say
On topics of your interest
 
Many a time
I start speaking about the equator
When you are google searching  for a flyover
Which will carry you to your desired destination
Maybe I’ m explaining an umbrella’s life story
And you are continuously searching
For the spectrum colours in old memories
 
We can talk about anything
Even about a wheelchair, or the religion of water
But you have chosen a subject
About which I almost know nothing
 
You had wanted to know
When it rains along the line of control
Do the soldiers on the either side of the border
Get drenched in the same way
I could not answer
 
This happens quite often
Sometimes I wished
You queries could have been a little more predictable.
 
Translation By Barnali Roy

​Prabal Kumar Basu is an Indian poet, essayist and editor. Writing in his mother tongue Bengali, Prabal enjoys a distinguished position in the national literary scenario as a post independent Bengali poet. His works are significant in the long and rich tradition of Bengali literature.
Books-As I Wander Along, All about Umbrellas: A Collection of Bengali Poetry in English Translation

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