Odia Poems by Manoranjan Sahoo in English Translation

Mundapota Kela


He swam like a fish on the land 
walked like a tortoise 
ran like a horse
and barked like a dog
near the rice vessel, 
sitting on the date leaves mat, 
gazing at the palm leaves bag 
and the iron crowbar
at last, he 
buried his head in the soil
exhibiting his stomach 
etched in the world of hunger. 


*Note: A tribe in Odisha earns their livelihood through the interment of their heads. 


Fear 

My son goes to school
in the city 
where the eye and kidney 
rackets are rampant.

My daughter’s bank 
PO exam hits—
letting my daughter board
the train 
I return home at 12 in the night. 

My wife suffers from 
asthma, 
a disease that restricts 
her breathing. 

A stray dog outside 
has gone uncontrolled
as I step out I’m 
engulfed by a killing fear.  
 

Indian Democracy 

A widow is promised   
for marriage, but not 
as dignified as the 
lady who gets wedded 
for the first time. 


Kendrapara

In the letterhead of the 
education minister, the peon 
writes a love letter. 
The nude photos of a rape case 
and the audio recorded  
unveil a mammoth racket. 
After getting caught
with some girls and boys 
suicide becomes the escape.
And the Gobaree River 
following in 
Kendrapara gets buried.  

Translated from the Odia by Pitambar Naik

Bio:

Manoranjan Sahoo earned a Bacherlor of Commerce from Utkal University and a Diploma in Pharmaceutical Business Retail and Wholesale from Kendrapara Autonomous College. He has three collections of poetry—-Apadebata, Khalihatare and Kicchi Kabita Kichhi Nirabata. He was born and brought in Indupur, Kendrapara in Odisha.    

Pitambar Naik is an advertising copywriter. When he’s not creating ideas for brands, he writes and translates poetry. His work appears or is forthcoming in Singapore Unbound, ellipsis… literature & art, The Dodge, The McNeese Review, The Notre Dame Review, Packingtown Review, Ghost City Review, Rise Up Review, Glass: A Journal of Poetry and elsewhere. He’s the author of the poetry collections, The Anatomy of Solitude (Hawakal) and the forthcoming translation, Fury Species (Republic Publishers). He grew up in Odisha and now lives in Bangalore, India.