Mountain child Mountain Child

Mountain child

pahaaRkii god meN
Mountain lap in of
pahaaR ke choTe-choTe TukRoN saa
Mountain of little-little pieces like
kheltaa hai pahaaRii baccaa
Plays mountain child
 
laRkhaRaate kadamoN se pahaaR caRhte
Tottering/wabbling/stumbling steps with mountain climbing/ascending
roptaa hai pahaaRii dhartii par paaNv
Set/plant mountain earth on foot
pahaaRii maahaul meN
Mountain atmpshere in
pahaaR kii tarah
Mountain like
puurii taakat se ugne ke lie
Full power/strength /force with growing for
 
pahaaRii bacon ke bhiitar hotaa hai
Mountain children inside is (general statement)
puuraa kaa puuraa pahaaR
Entire/whole/all of mountain
aur pahaaRon kii god meN hotaa hai
And mountains of lap in is (general statement)
dauRtaa-bhaagtaa pahaaRii baccaa
Running around/scurrying mountain child
 
pahaaRii baccaa dekhtaa hai
Mountain child sees
pahaaR ke uupar se guzarta jahaaz
Mountain above passing plane/aircraft
aur puuchtaa hai pitaa se
And he asks father from
us naye pakshii ke bare meN
That new bird about
 

Mountain Child

The mountain child —
a fragment of the mountain —
plays in the lap of the mountain
 
Toddling up the mountain
he plants his feet in the mountain soil
to rise like a mountain
in the land of mountains
 
The whole mountain
lives inside the mountain child
And in the lap of the mountain
lives the scurrying mountain child
 
The mountain child sees
a plane flying over the mountain
And he asks his father —
What is that bird?
 

The poem we translated had already been translated from Santali to Hindi – it was the first time we had translated a translated poem. It was a very interesting process, and we hope to work with Sukrita Paul Kumar again in the future.

Mountain Child

In the lap of the mountain
Plays the mountain child
Like tiny little mountain fragments/pieces
 
Climbing the mountain with wobbling steps
He plants his feet on the mountain earth
To grow with full force
Like a mountain
Amidst the mountainous world
 
Inside mountain children is
The entire mountain
And in the lap of the mountains
Is the scurrying mountain child
 
The mountain child sees
A plane flying over the mountain
He asks his father
What is that bird?
 

Original Poem by

Nirmala Putul

Translated by

Lucy Rosenstein with The Poetry Translation Workshop Language

Hindi

Country

India