Bengali Literature in English

Dr. Jaydeep Sarangi

Associate Professor, Deptt. Of  English at Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri College (Calcutta University), Kolkata

 

I’m not a publisher
I can’t read my readers
I have no eyes beyond the immediate
To read what is written on the walls of history.
It’s a fashion
Everywhere. I must smile in English.
I must brush my teeth after every meal
Tan my skin during the weekends.
Use tissue papers.
Blush after an English breakfast.

It’s the age of Indian diaspora,
Novels in English. Sunil cries
In book shelves. Heavy with dust.
Joy makes no joy. Dhoti clad Bengali babu
Only appears on screen. The Tiger roars in English.
My friend predicts,
Bengali literature will be written in English.
Who will recite poems in Bangla?
May be a few students in Chicago and Prague.

‘Naya Shah Rukh Khan’ will arrive
Through the main gate. In a kingly dress.
We stand in front of the Avatar. Hands folded.

Note:
Avatar: God