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Swarnika Ahuja‘s translation of Homvati Devi’s poem: आह्वान – The Invocation (Hindi to English)

By degrees twilight falls

Unsteadily hope slips; stumbles – in every moment desire dwindles 

Entangling the gaze with the path, it brims life’s breath with agony 

                                                                                                  Softly 

Enveloped in the folds of the evening- soaring a little, at times diminishing

Longing and yearning unitedly, measured the depths of the heart

                                                                                                  Softly 


 

The birds fly towards their nests, every home is lit with lamps O traveler!

Only in my inner and outer world, silence still reigns

                                                                                                  Softly 

The trembling veena rung out resoundingly, losing all sense reverberated deliriously 

Aaun!! Aaun!! – the sound flew and crashed into the abyss 

                                                                                                  Softly 

Swarnika Ahuja is currently an assistant professor of English at Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, GGSIPU. She has presented her academic papers in both national and international conferences. Her translations have appeared in Doublespeak Magazine and gulmohur quarterly. Her poems have also been published in Ghost Review Press and The Indian Periodical.
Homvati Devi was a Hindi poet and a prominent short-story writer. She was born in Meerut in 1902. Very few of her works have appeared in English translation in select anthologies and online magazines. Considered an important woman writer , she wrote on gender issues and social injustices at a time when Indian society was deeply patriarchal. She passed away in 1951. 

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