Poem
Nirupama Dutt
WHERE HAVE THE BOATS GONE?
Where did the boats come from? O Ranjhamy trader in love?
Where did the boatmen come from? O Ranjha
my trader in love?
My mother used to sing this
lost song of Pothohar
I recall the boats would come
from Jhelum
and the boatmen
from Attock
My mother had seen Attock
and spent her childhood in Jhelum
For me these are just two
names of rivers and towns
lost somewhere in the Punjab
across the barbed wire
If the boats came they must have
gone somewhere too
I cannot recall the destination
mentioned in the song
Mother is no longer there
or I would ask her
Never mind, I will ask Ranjha
my trader in love
if I come across him
somewhere along:
Where have the boats gone, O Ranjha
my trader in love?
Where have the boatmen gone, O Ranjha
my trader in love?
© Translation: 2004, Nirupama Dutt
Ranjha is the archetypal romantic and tragic hero of the famous love legend of Punjab, Heer Ranjha. The poet belongs to a family that migrated at the time of the Partition from Pakistan Punjab to India Punjab. Hence the allusions to lost village, rivers and towns
WHERE HAVE THE BOATS GONE?
© 2004, Nirupama Dutt
From: Sankh
From: Sankh
Poems
Poems of Nirupama Dutt
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WHERE HAVE THE BOATS GONE?
Where did the boats come from? O Ranjhamy trader in love?
Where did the boatmen come from? O Ranjha
my trader in love?
My mother used to sing this
lost song of Pothohar
I recall the boats would come
from Jhelum
and the boatmen
from Attock
My mother had seen Attock
and spent her childhood in Jhelum
For me these are just two
names of rivers and towns
lost somewhere in the Punjab
across the barbed wire
If the boats came they must have
gone somewhere too
I cannot recall the destination
mentioned in the song
Mother is no longer there
or I would ask her
Never mind, I will ask Ranjha
my trader in love
if I come across him
somewhere along:
Where have the boats gone, O Ranjha
my trader in love?
Where have the boatmen gone, O Ranjha
my trader in love?
© 2004, Nirupama Dutt
From: Sankh
From: Sankh
WHERE HAVE THE BOATS GONE?
Where did the boats come from? O Ranjhamy trader in love?
Where did the boatmen come from? O Ranjha
my trader in love?
My mother used to sing this
lost song of Pothohar
I recall the boats would come
from Jhelum
and the boatmen
from Attock
My mother had seen Attock
and spent her childhood in Jhelum
For me these are just two
names of rivers and towns
lost somewhere in the Punjab
across the barbed wire
If the boats came they must have
gone somewhere too
I cannot recall the destination
mentioned in the song
Mother is no longer there
or I would ask her
Never mind, I will ask Ranjha
my trader in love
if I come across him
somewhere along:
Where have the boats gone, O Ranjha
my trader in love?
Where have the boatmen gone, O Ranjha
my trader in love?
© 2004, Nirupama Dutt
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