MY LOST JEWEL
BY Dr. MAYADHAR MANSIMHA
(Rendered
by the Author from Oriya)
As
the cow bellows for the distant calf,
As
the lonely dove fills the woodland with pity,
As
plants yearn for the sunshine,
So
do I pine for thee and weep,
My
dear little lost jewel!
Like
one suddenly gone blind,
Like
the rich robbed of his all overnight,
I
grope in the darkness of sudden bereavement,
My
dear little lost jewel!
Like
a golden lotus you hung on my breast,
Your
ill-uttered first words were music divine,
But
that speech, that smile, those frolics of yours
Are
now but cruel memories,
My
dear little lost jewel!
On
the same breast that you oft adorned like a golden lotus,
I
carried your limbs, stiff with the touch of death,
And
laid them on the pyre wailing over my fate
And
wishing to share the same bed with you;
My
dear little lost jewel!
Didn’t
I often look into your divine eyes and say,
“Meseems,
child, you have come under this roof by a mistake,
For,
such as you, are not to be claimed in homes like mine”?
Why
indeed did you come unasked and dash my hopes as naively!
My
dear little lost jewel!
Are
you in the sky, in the winds, or in the under-world?
Might
you not be suffering from the elements?
Might
you not be feeling hunger and thirst?
Between
whose snug arms will you spend the terrific rainy night?
My
dear little lost jewel!
I
go the daily rounds meeting the needs of existence,
But,
in the dark inner chambers, ceaseless burns the fire of your memory.
Kept
alive with the fuel of tears,
And
the soul keeps crying out your name day and night;
My
dear little lost jewel!