Poems of Aduri Satyavathi Devi
Poem-36
Adieu, Till Then…
Telugu Original: Aduri Satyavathi Devi
English Translation: NS Murthy
Nobody leaves a clue as to
When or to what worlds their adventure is all about.
It’s all an enigmatic, all-encompassing lonely reflection.
And a jingle of queries.
No matter how delicately you tread,
Or, a friendly perfume you tend,
Oh, they never speak of their rendezvous, even inadvertently.
But,
You little flower, the munchkin of the garden!
You little bird, the well and swell of music!
You dear tree, the hive of generosity!
I will tell you the truth before I leave.
I shall send you messages through the murmurs of the wind.
When the earth is awash with showers of dusky clouds
I shall send messages through nascent smells.
Your responses,
And the sweet throbbing of your heart,
I softly spray all along my walks.
To unveil the esoteric mysteries of life
Locked up in time’s vault to you,
I march forward
Opening out every new window.
You don’t get nonplussed or alarmed
Till I return,
making a hopping detour of the greater worlds,
resting briefly on a swinging cot. Won’t you?
Before seasons roll over quickly
And the year enters the mesmeric Spring
Won’t I embrace you as a new shoot?
Don’t take adieu
As adieu forever.
It’s but a brief absence, like lightning,
Taking along the chiaroscuro of the breaking night.
I assure you, teeny-weeny, sweet bird!
We shall fun and frolic when I sprout back,
As a daughter of this soil,
Covetously guarding these seeds of memory.
*****
Telugu Original : ‘Antavaraku Salavaa Mari!’
Aduri Satyavathi Devi was born in Guntur in the year 1948 and settled in Visakhapatnam after marriage in 1969. She began her literary career as a lyricist at the age of 13. She wrote a variety of lyrics numbering about 300 — light, classical, devotional, patriotic, children’s and others. More than 50 songs of Satyavati Devi were broadcast over All India Radio. Eventually she made forays into various other literary genres like Poetry, Short story, Essay, Radio Play, Musical Feature, Books, Film reviews, Forewords etc..She created a substantial corpus of poetry with more than 180 poems included in 4 anthologies of poetry. She received accolades from readers, scholars, critics and litterateurs for her sensitive rendering of poems. She participated in many Poetry Meets, Festivals conducted by All India Radio, Doordarshan and the Sahitya Akademi. She was widely translated into English and Hindi. Some of the translations appeared in renowned journals like Indian Literature (English), and Samakaaleen Bharateeya Saahitya (Hindi).
She published her first volume of lyrics Vennello Venugaanam in 1988. Her first volume of poetry Rekkamudavani Raagam was published in 1992 followed by Jalapaata Geetam in 1997 and Veyirangula Velugu Raagam in 2006. Hindi translation of Rekkamudavani Raagam came out in 2008 as “Pankh an Modnevaalaa Raag” and a miscellany of various facets of her literary endeavour Vennela Paarijaataalu was published posthumously in Dec 2008. She received many prizes and awards for her literary pursuits and accomplishments like STVD Kalasamithi Award for Rekkamudavani Raagam in 1993, and Telugu University’s “Pratibha Puraskaram” as “Best Poet” in 1994, “Krishna Sastry Award” from Andhra Lalita Kala Samithi (Secunderabad) in 1998, UNESCO Literary Award in 2000, and “Ramavruksha Benipuri Janma Sataabdi Sammaan” from Jaimuni Academy (Panipat) in 2002. An English translation of her poem, “Veyirekkala Pavuram” (Myriad Winged Bird) has been included in the syllabus of English texts in the poetry section of Degree year students by the Common Core syllabus Committee in AP from 2008.