Dr. Nachiketa Bandyopadhyay
(India)
Loving Bangla vasa
Globe-trotter monsoon looms over, over head
Hosting her thunderous cloud mass greenery bed
Bengali’s sweet lyre resonating billion heart
Grassland flooded off, shower wet cattle herd
petrichor, ducks fowl lotus snails rain beaten
kamini blooms green aroma fragrance of Kadamba
clouds veils lavish green all over horizon
colorful mystical melancholic bract petal
sweet teen unfurling rimijhimi Megh malhar
pendulous birds house bamboo bush bow down
Evening crawls down quite peace Bangla land
remain in quandary oh Bengali your sweet tongue
celebrating twilight conch blowing lamp flaming
lunar disc written script people sing Bengali
Language stays in grove temple and sanctuary
heart cottage confine sweet voice as Goddess
Oh gracious Bangla vasa longlive my mother tongue.
HOME IS WHERE LANGUASE STAYS
Prophet says Art is language as language is art
Word is powerful than silence when erupts so
Tongue is the miracle where philosophies go
Tongue is the treasure trove of various thought
Prophet says Language is the measure of life and save
if allow it to die, death of cultures and yourself you face
will vanish legacy, heritage, knowledge, thought you boast
words are clothing item only Tongue is wardrobe
Prophet says more the tongue more the world view
ecology more the deep more the native thrive
embodiment of the wisdoms society and people
home is where language stay, save the speakers so
Silence please
“Hope you are well, how is your daughter?, asked I
“She now in primary English medium, doing well in classes
even talk with me in English”chuckling I dry throated
asked “why not talk your own tongue even at home, keep it”
“my tongue is tribal one, this city can’t understand, laughs at her
so let her dream in English, eat in English, drink in English”
I knew the success story of lingua franka the dreamer language
by which ones cultural identities will be robbed and fossilized
her indigenous tongue is waiting to folklorized ,and vaporized
along with discourses vocabularies ideas rituals noble qualities
only silences of voices cast a shadow over one’s cultural territory
languages cease to exist, dominant tongue wolf down tiny tongue
as shark gobble minnows, thus market economies tests good fit.
Missing everyday varieties of paddy wheat banana herbs birds
as well known and unknown lifeforms including the last speaker
last speakers of exclusive tongues. Rest is in history.
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BIO
Born in 1960, Dr. Nachiketa Bandyopadhyay has been working as a Registrar at the Sidho Kanho Birsha University, Purulia, India since 2011. He also worked as a Reader in Zoology department at Alipurduar college, (North Bengal University) and as a Principal at Netaji Subhash Ashram Mahavidyalay in Purulia (Burdwan University). His area of interests are Wildlife, Ichthyology, Ornithology, Peace Education, Philosophy, Poetry, History of science, and Women in science. He has published a number of articles in many different National and International journals.