Pankha

I had a hand-fan once.
The air rose,
and the mosquitoes fell with
its swift stroke!
That pujo filled with countless heads;
How gently you removed your hand,
from mine.
Now suddenly, this vast emptiness
in my hands!
The next day, you asked for the hand-fan;
And once again we were mutual victors,
in this life.
You sat all day, without a word,
by the banks of Jalangi.
Sealdah was my refuge.

On my way from Krishnagar to Kolkata,
I encounter something familiar,
your smell!
The smell of your hand-fan.
Oh, how you enfold me like an old leaf!
For a brief minute, I feel immobile.
My fingers trace a plus sign,
over the mosquito bite on my arm.
I look for a new hand-fan,
at the local vendor every day.
Only to return empty-handed still;
The palm leaves no longer
smell the same.

“Translated from Bengali to English by Srinjali Seal”

Shamik Ghosh

Shamik Ghosh is a professor of Mathematics at Jadavpur University. He grew up in Bagbazar. Professor Ghosh is an ardent follower of literature. His works have been published in the Little Magazine, and other such renowned platforms. He’s been a lover of science as well as the arts. Some of his previously published works are, “I shall set fire to my epitaph” in 1986, “Jebhabe poribortito ghash punorjonom khnojey” written in Bengali, in 2018, and others.