Tiger

Gayatribala Panda

Translated by Sailen Routray

Close View of Wartburg Castle in Eisenach (Thuringia, Germany)
Photo Credit - Wikimedia Commons

While the tiger dozes,
the earth sleeps,  
in supreme satisfaction.
 
Like the way
devi’s eyes shine on the pandal,
when a sacrificial buffalo’s head
hits the ground. 
 
That exultation finds expression
in painting
in sculpture,
in stories,
and in poetry.
 
While the tiger dozes, the earth sleeps in supreme satisfaction.

Translator's Note: Gayatribala Panda (1977-present) is an Odia writer based in Bhubaneswar, who writes both poetry and fiction. She has published a novel, two short story collections and more than a dozen volumes of poetry. Amongst other awards, she is the winner of the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar for the year 2011.  

This translation was first published in the May-June 2015 issue of the Central Sahitya Akademi publication Indian Literature.