Lies

Basudev Sunani

Translated by Sailen Routray

Cardamom buns on a checkered linen tablecloth in Lysekil, Sweden
https://commons.wikimedia.org/W. Carter

Whenever I meet Sabnam bhabi,

I receive the benediction of a smile

as bright as the moon on Eid.

What immediately follows the smile,

is an exclamation.

“You have become a big man indeed!”

Lies!

Five feet five inches short Basudev’s head

still does not touch her doorframe!

Since when has he become a big man?

Ask anyone;

everyone will say that Basudev is 

an ordinary hapless traveler,

expectant at a forlorn bus stop.

After being hailed, 

the bus even stops for a moment.

but when he is just about to board,

it leaves.

Sabnam bhaabi is a lying fairy,

and she tells lies of no consequence.

If anyone here feels charitable enough,

please stop a bus.

Basudev has waited long for one,

hovering 

at the end of the tether of his confidence.

Translator's Note: Basudev Sunani (b. 1962) is one of the foremost poetic voices of his generation in Odia literature. He has a body of prose in the form of novels, monographs and essays in the language as well.