I

Ramakanta Samantaray

Translated by Sailen Routray

Painting by Padmaja Routray (2025)

When I look for him

he is never to be found at hand. 

A fragrance wafts around the house.

That fragrance keeps one intxicated

throughout the day.

While cutting the vegetables

or grinding the besara

or turning the chakuli around

on the back of an oily pan,

he comes silently.

When I get startled and turn around

there is no one.

There is absolutely no one there.

My shadow's ghost dances on the wall.

I get startled again.

When I look for him he is never to be found at hand. 

Each and every word,

restlessly throngs the room. 

The night gets over

while I try and get hold of them

to adorn a sentence

that fits the shape of my mind. 

Note: The Odia original of this translated poem is sourced from the poetry collection 'Asaranti Rekhachitra', published in 2022 by Barsha Publication (Bhubaneswar). The poet Ramakanta Samantaray, born in 1972, has studied painting at the Bibhuti Kanungo College of Art and Craft (Bhubaneswar), and Odia Literature and Language at the Utkal University (Bhubaneswar). His doctoral work was a meditation on contemporary theatre in Odia. With this combination of literature, language, and the visual arts, he has been constantly working to create hybrid narratives. Apart from being a painter, he has also published fifteen books, including collections of poems and short stories, and novels. He has written and published articles on art, artists, and monographs in Odia. He presently lives and works in Bhubaneswar.