Captain Pravin Raghuvanshi, NM
(Captain Pravin Raghuvanshi—an ex Naval Officer, possesses a multifaceted personality. Presently, he is serving as Senior Advisor in prestigious Supercomputer organisation C-DAC, Pune. An alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad is involved in various Artificial Intelligence and High-Performance Computing projects of national and international repute. He has got a long experience in the field of ‘Natural Language Processing’, especially, in the domain of Machine Translation. He has taken the mantle of translating the timeless beauties of Indian literature upon himself so that it reaches across the globe. He has also undertaken translation work for Shri Narendra Modi, the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, which was highly appreciated by him. He is also a member of ‘Bombay Film Writer Association’.)
We present an English Version of Ms. Neelam Saxena Chandra’s mesmerizing poem “चाँदनी”. We extend our heartiest thanks to the learned author Captain Pravin Raghuvanshi Ji (who is very well conversant with Hindi, Sanskrit, English and Urdu languages) for this awesome translation.)
Ms Neelam Saxena Chandra
(Ms. Neelam Saxena Chandra ji is a well-known author. She has been honoured with many international/national/ regional level awards. Ms. Neelam Saxena Chandra ji is an Additional Divisional Railway Manager, Indian Railways, Pune Division.
☆ चाँदनी… ☆
आसमान की चादर पर चांदनी
मस्त हो, इतरा रही थी,
उसकी ग़ज़ब सी नज़ाकत थी,
एक पाँव भी आगे बढ़ाती
तो हवा पायल बन खनक उठती,
और उसकी मुस्कान पर तो
सेंकडों लोग फ़िदा थे –
उनमें से एक उसका आशिक़
बेपरवाह समंदर भी था!
समंदर ने उससे कहा,
“बहुत मुहब्बत करता हूँ तुमसे!”
और वो चांदनी इठलाती हुई
उसकी आगोश में समा गयी!
चांदनी तो
यह भी न समझ पायी
कि उसका रूप ही बदल गया है
और वो हो गयी है क़ैद
समंदर के घेरे में…
वो तो उसे एक हसीं मकाँ समझ
खुश रहती!
यह तो उसने कई दिनों बाद जाना
कि शांत सा समंदर
दिखता कुछ और था
पर उसके मन में कुछ और था;
उसके मन के ऊफ़ान को देख,
और उसका यह बनावटी पहलू देख,
आज़ादी को तरसने लगी!
आज मैंने देर रात को देखा
वो करवा चौथ के दिन
पहुँच गयी थी वापस आसमान में
और फिर मुसकुरा रही थी!
☆ Enchanting Moon… ☆
Spirited moonlight,
in the lap of sky
Kept swaying galore!
Amazingly rollicking gait,
Even the swinging
movement of steps
Would make the wind blow like tinkling of sprightly anklets…
On her smile
were hundreds of
smitten people floored
and willing to die for…
Of which, one was,
the careless sea,
–an ardent lover!
The sea told her,
“I’m in love with you
and can’t live without you!”
And, the moonlight
flauntingly merged
into the hug of the sea…
Innocent moonlight,
Could not even understand
That her form has changed
And, she has been imprisoned
In the precincts of the sea…
Considering it
as her sweet home
She would remain happy!
But soon, she learnt
after a few days
That, apparently,
quiet looking sea
was something
else in reality;
She was petrified
To see the fury of
storms in his mind,
And, the conceited
artificiality of appearance,
She began to crave
for her freedom!
Today, I saw her again
late at night on the
day of Karva Chauth*
She had reached back
up in the sky
glowing with her
ever enchanting smile!
© Captain Pravin Raghuvanshi, NM
≈ Blog Editor – Shri Hemant Bawankar/Editor (English) – Captain Pravin Raghuvanshi, NM ≈
