U briew, u symbai, u jingthung,
da u lah tynneng palat,
u jynrat hi naduh tyllong
dalade ïalade.
Nga ïohi ia u lyoh khyndew
u ba ju ïai wan sop ïa ka
longrynïeng jong nga
bad man ba u leit phai pat,
u shim noh shi dkhotmet
na ka syrngiew jong nga.
Haba ka tlang ka la sdang ban
wan siaw na sha lyndet ki kynroh,
da kaba sem artat da ki lai rong
jong u sohmynken khnai-
Hangta keiñ ngan sa ïohi
biang ïa ka dur
briew jong ki sur bad ki khana
kiba ju ïai ksaid ban im,
ynda ki mih biang pat
na ka met jong ki
'riewhyndai kum ka jynhaw.
Haba u 'sai ka duitara u
sdang ban slor-
hato ngi bujli bad kylliang ïa u
da ki sur nongwei?
-Badondor Diengdoh
A man, a seed, a plant,
in desperation to ape others,
uproots his own self from
the source.
I watch the mist
who always arrives to cloak
my being,
and every time it departs
it carries away a part of my body
from my shadow.
When winter starts to whistle
from beyond the walls
dressed in the
three colours of u sohmynken khnai
It is there that I see once again
the human face
of songs and stories
who struggle to remain alive,
when they rise from
the body of ancestors like vapour.
When the thread of the duitara
begins to wither-
do we change and replace it
with foreign songs?
-translated by Daiarisa Rumnong
"Ka Tlang Kaba Pynim ("A Winter That Revives") is an original Khasi poem by Badondor Diengdoh.
When winter arrives will we understand the change it brings? Will we return to what rooted us since the beginning? The poem is an evocative response emerging from a depth of experience. Khublei Shibun for sending your poem!