from Janmadiney, translation: Amiya Chakravarty

On that birthday morning,
With deference
I lifted my eyes to the sunrise.
I saw the dawn
Consecrate
The white forehead of mountain ranges.
I beheld
The great distance
In creation's heart
On the throne of the lord of mountains.
From ages, majestic,
He has preserved the unknown
In the trackless forest;
The sky-cleaving, far-away,
Encircled
In sunrise and sunset.

On this birthday,
The great distance grows in my heart.
The starry path is nebular,
Mysterious;
And my own remoteness
Impenetrable.
The pilgrim moves, his path unseen,
The consequence unknown.
Today
I hear the traveller's footsteps
From my lonely seashore.

it's a girl

i wonder how mom felt when i was born?
Dad had already line up a family to take the newborn if it's a girl.
two of my older sisters were given away in the similar arrangement.
somehow the deal fell through and i was kept.
i was the youngest of eight girls.

(i love you mom, tho i've never said it out loud.)