Translation: Taara Jala by Junoon

This one is actually... not a Bengali song. It's a song by Junoon, a Pakistani band I first heard in college. But I did not hear this song until Holi of 2007, when a friend gave me a CD of songs to listen to upon my arrival in Delhi. My Hindi was really at the beginner level at this point, and considering this is Urdu, I barely understood much other than the chorus but knew the song had something to say.

The more I sang it, the more I understood - both the words of the song and the limitations on my voice that kept me from singing it. But it wasn't until many years later I was able to fully understand the song, and in understanding, was able to break through those limits as well.

Thanks as always to those who helped me understand it better - Sanjay for going back and forth with me on that one confusing line, and Ankur for the CD. It may not be word for word perfect, but it encompasses the way I feel when I hear it.

Taara Jala - Junoon
Blazing Star

Tere vaaste main...
For you, I...

In lamhon ke peeche
Koi to hai lamha aisa bhi
Jo begaana bhi hai apna bhi
After these moments, another moment like this will come
Even the unknown belongs to us

Jahaan thehere yeh lamha
Wahin se to aage jaana hai
Jise socha hai usko paana hai
Where this moment stops
From there, then, we go forward
He who thinks this will achieve 

Jaaoon main...
Jaate pal se aage jaaoon
Jaoon main, aage jaake usko paaon, chahoon, aage hi jaaoon main
And I go on...
From this moment, I go on
And from there, I'll attain, desire, and go ever forward

Taara, taara jala
Kehkeshan ki tarah
Tere vaaste main
I am a blazing star
Shining like a galaxy
For you...

Jahaan manzil hai meri
Kabhi to vo duniya dekhoonga
Mujhe kaise hai jeena dekhoonga
Perhaps i will see that world of my destiny--
How will that life appear to me?

Kabhi dekhoonga jaake,
Chuda ke main peecha kaamon se
Kabhi nikloonga subho shaamon se
Perhaps I will catch a glimpse, my work left behind me,
Perhaps I will emerge from my quotidian

Jaaoon main...
Jaate pal se aage jaaoon
Jaoon main, aage jaake usko paaon, chahoon, aage hi jaaoon main
And I go on...
From this moment, I go on
And from there, I'll attain, desire, and go ever forward

Taara, taara jala
Kehkeshan ki tarah
Tere vaaste main
I am a blazing star
Shining like a galaxy
For you...

Tere saath hum nahin
Gham ki tarah gham nahin
Teri mohabbat kam nahin
I am not with you
There is no sadness like this
There is no love greater than yours

Main taara, taara jala
Kehkeshan ki tarah
Tere vaaste main
I am a blazing star
Shining like a galaxy
For you...

Translation: Sunset by Nitin Sawhney

I first heard this song on a compilation CD one of my students gave me nearly a decade ago. This was the first song, and the music and voice gripped me from the first second. I didn't know who was singing, what he was singing, but that didn't matter. The English vocals were no less enticing; I must have listened to this song hundreds of times, if not thousands, over the last ten years.

Over that time, I learned that the singer in English was Eska. That the beginning lyrics were in Bengali. That the singer's name was Pandit Jayanta Bose. That I would eventually meet people who had learned to sing from him. And I would learn how to read and write those lyrics that at first listen were nothing but beautiful music, and today I am able to translate these four lines for you.

Bengali: 
হঠাৎ যদি আমি থেমে যেতাম
শেষ বিকেলের মতো অস্ত যেতাম
অসীম রাতের শেষে শয়নে
সূর্যের সাথে আমি ঘুমিয়ে যেতাম

Transliteration:
Hothat jodi ami theme jetam
Shesh bikeler moto osto jetam
Ashim raater sheshe shoyone
Surjer saathe ami ghumiye jetam

Translation:
If I were suddenly to pause; to set beyond the horizon as dusk arrives,
At last, in the bed of boundless night, I would fall asleep with the sun.

(Special thanks go to Abhik Ray for discussing compound verbs with me at length, and Shumon Sengupta for his translations of Tagore that inspired me to do this.)