Michael Heynman and Sumanyu Satpathy and Anushka Ravishankar and Sampurna ChattarThe Tenth Rasa: An anthology of Indian nonsense
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Heynman, Michael; Sumanyu Satpathy; Anushka Ravishankar; Sampurna Chattarji (unlisted);
The Tenth Rasa: An anthology of Indian nonsense
Penguin India 2007
ISBN 0143100866
topics: | poetry | india | humour | nonsense | anthology
Why not a bilingual edition?
As I was reading this book, I kept getting more and more agitated about how they could have brought out such a book without keeping the original texts in there. This is a book that was crying out to be published bilingually - the originals (in roman script) on one side, the English versions on the other.
If we have the serious poetry of Brecht or Neruda published bilingually, why can't nonsense verse, where the sounds are of far more import, be published bi-lingually? Is it because French and Spanish are more prestigious languages than the languages of these originals?
Nonsense blank verse?
Much of the nonsense in the book is verse. But what constitutes nonsense verse? Here's a nonsense verse:
It's a fact the whole world knows,
That Pobbles are happier without their toes,
The above is nonsense verse, what of the following?
It's a fact the whole world knows,
That without their toes Pobbles are happier
Much nonsense is verse because it stands on wordplay and rhyme
(that's why it doesn't need toes, perhaps?). That's all the more reason we
needed the originals. Also, even in unfamiliar languages, some words
come through anyway, as in these lines from Vaikom Basheer's Malayalam:
La... la ... la!
huttini halitta littapo
Sanjini balikka luttapi
Halitha manikka linjalo
Sankara bahana tulipi
Hanjini hilatto jimbalo
Fanatta lakkidi jimbalo
Da ... da ... da!
La ... la ... la! (p. 93)
(but then, phrases like "sankara bahana" may be friendlier for other Indic
languages... )
The attempts at translating nonsense verse in this book, except for one or
two exceptional poets like Sampurna Chattarji, either don't make the cut,
or even worse, are rendered in prose, which makes it perhaps the world's
first nonsense blank verse. Even where verse is not possible, perhaps
some attempt should be made to preserve the cadence, but in some sections
like the Telugu, even this appears to have been given up.
Winners
On the whole, the Bengali section stands out, because of the superlative work by Sampurna Chatterji - all the Bengali poems, and some of the Hindi, are translated by her - and they are by far the most impressive poetry in this collection (see selections below). Perhaps because some of the poems were published separately, she doesn't get mentioned as one of the authors/editors, yet clearly her work constitutes a large part (and the best parts) of the book. For instance, here is Sampurna's rendering of "Abol tAbol" from Sukumar Ray's nonsense classic from the turn of the century. Notice that even the cadence of the Bangla, given below in transcription and in Bangla font, appears to have been captured. Abol tAbol Come happy fool whimsical cool Come dreaming dancing fancy-free Come mad musician glad glusician beating your drum with glee (tr. Sampurna Chatterjee) p.14 Ay re bholA kheyAl kholA svapandolA bAjiye Ay Ay re pAgal Abol tAbol matta mAdal bAjiye Ay আয়রে ভোলা খেয়াল-খোলা স্বপনদোলা নাচিয়ে আয়, আয়রে পাগল আবোল তাবোল মত্ত মাদল বাজিয়ে আয়। The Marathi section is a distant second, with a few translations that can stand as English verse. The Oriya section also has a few good verses, like this : Vain Cock [poDa kapAla] J.P. Das (tr. Sumanyu Satpathy) Taught to say ku-ku-du-koo, ku-ku-du-koo He only said, "coco-a-doodle-doo" Such a vain cock- You're in for a shock; Not tandoori, you'll only be stew. Manoj Das' The Yellow Bear is also a great translation. There are no Tamil nonsense poems with attributed authorship, but this traditional poem works quite well: Grandpa's Beard (tr. from Tamil, V. Geeetha) When grandpa stuck his finger Deep into his beard He found many strange things there The strangest things you've heard: Out came a turtle dove Not just one, but two In flew a sunbird Not just one, but two A yellow bird has got inside And a blackbird too. They'll make their cozy nests in there And lay their eggs inside them And dear old Grandpa's long white beard Will quite completely hide them.
Losers
But most poems are workable, far from brilliant. In some poems,
we have a nice rhyme going, but then it may suddenly sputter out:
Raven, O Raven [damaru kAu]
Nanda Kishor Bala (tr. from Oriya Sumanyu Satpathy)
Raven o Raven
you caw from the murk
of the shifting high hills
where the Threeseedy lurks
Its eight times twenty
And twenty times three
Ask brother to count
The cowries for me
The nighttime descends
With coins counted out
The kajal pot's stolen
A thief is about.
The six rupee ox
Lays his head down to die.
Only the black cow
Today will survive.
The last verse will drive anyone up the wall... and that too with a great
cues like ox strewn around... how about
He bows down to die
The six rupee ox -
Only the black cow
Survives the shocks!
If I were editing this work, I would throw out half the substandard English
stuff, and put in the originals for the rest, so the reader can get a
feeling for the sounds. See, for example, Khushwant's Singh's
review of this book, which has some examples of punjabi nonsense verse,
and it works quite well!
There is an Indian English nonsense section as well, and here too, Sampurna
Chatterji stands out:
Idli lost its fiddli
`* Dosa lost its crown
Wada lost its wiolin
And let the whole band down.
In the end though, there is something to be said for getting a flavour,
however bleached, of the mad rhymes from other tongues.
Some translations by Sampurna Chatterji
SC contributes close to a quarter of the poems or maybe more, but somehow (shyness?) she is not officially acknowledged as an author.
Pumpkin-Grumpkin
Kumdo Potaash (If) Pumpkin-Grumpkin dances- Don't for heaven's sake go where the stable horse prances Don't look left, don't look right, don't take no silly chances. Instead cling with all four legs to the holler-radish branches. (If) Pumpkin-Grumpkin runs- Make sure you scramble up the windows all at once; Mix rouge with hookah water and on your face smear tons; And don't dare look up at the sky, thinking you're great guns! (If) Pumpkin-Grumpkin calls- Clap legal hats on to your heads, float in basisn down the halls; Pound spinach into healing paste and smear your forehead walls; And with a red-hot pumice-stone rub your nose until it crawls. Those of you who find this foolish and dare to laugh it off, When Pumpkin-Grumpkin gets to know you won't want to scoff. Then you'll see which words of mine are full of truth, and how, Don't come running to me _then, I'm telling you right now. (tr. Sampurna Chatterjee)
Mister Owl and Missus
Payncha aar Paynchani
Mister says to Missus Owl,
I just love it when you howl,
Listening absent-mindely,
My sould dances blindedly!
That rubbed voice and scrbbed croon,
That upswelling happy swwon!
Just one of your ear-splitting hoots
Rips the trees out of their roots
A twist, a turn in every note
Crescendos creaking from that throat!
All my feasrs all my woes
All my throbby sobby lows,
Are all forgotten thanks to you
My darling singing Owleroo.
Moonbright beauty, sweet as sleep,
Your nightly songs, they make me weep.
(tr. Sampurna Chatterjee)
Stand-Alone Together
[shunechha ki bale gelo]
Did you hear what he said, the old fool?
The sky, it seems, smells sour as a rule!
But the sour smell vanishes when rain falls like sleet
And then - I've tasted it myself - it's absolutely sweet!
(tr. Sampurna Chatterjee) p.14
[how about "utterly" instead of "absolutely" there?]
Wordy Gurdyboom
shabda-kalpa-droom Whack-thwack boom-bam, oh what a rackers Flowers blooming? I see! I thought they were crackers! Whoosh-swoosh ping-pong my ears clench with fear You mean that's just a pretty smell getting out of here? Hurry scurry clunk thunk - what's that dreadful sound? Can't you see - the dew is falling, you better stay housebound! Hush-shush listen! Slip-slop-sper-lash! Oh no the moon's sunk - glub glub glubbash! Rustle-bustle slip-slide the night just passed me by Smash-crash my dreams just shattered, who can tell me why? Rumble-tumble buzz-buzz I'm in such a tizzy! My mind's dancing round and round making me so dizzy! Cling-clang ding-dong my aches ring like bells - Ow-ow pop-pop oh my heart it burns and swells! Helter-skeler bang-bang 'help! help!' they're screeching- Itching for a fight they said! Quick! Run out of reaching! (tr. Sampurna Chatterjee) p.14
Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements xv
A Note on the Translations xvii
Uncovering the Tenth Rasa: An Introduction An xix
Indian Nonsense Naissance
Michael Herman
Tradition and Modernity in Indian Nonsense
Sumanyu Satpathy
Is Nonsense?
Anushka Ravishankar
Literary Nonsense
Kabir (Hindi) 3
From Bijak
Sabda 62
Sabda 2
Sabda 52
Tenali Ramalinga (Telugu) 6
A Man of Mettle
Goat's Tail
Sukumar Ray (Bengali) 8
Glibberish-Gibberish
Mister Owl and Missus
Pumpkin-Grampian
Jollycoddled
Ooby Dooby Doom!
Wordygurdyboom!
Stand-Alones Together
Article Twenty-One
One Off Into Two
Mish-Mash
Wise Old Woody
Tomcat's Song
Nonsense Gone-sense
For Better or for Verse
Why?
Gorgondola
From Haw-Jaw-Baw-Raw-Law
Rabindranath Tagore (Bengali) 37
From Khapchhada
The Old Woman's Grandma-in-Law's Five
Sisters
Desperate to Hear an Elephant Sneeze
On the Floor of the Hall
Annada Sankar Ray (Bengali) 39
What the Little Girl Learnt
Let's to Delhi
Clerihew
Bauddhayan Mukherji (Bengali) 42
Liffle Girl
Why?
Dead Can Dance
Suncle
King for a Day
Weirdo
Navakanta Barua (Assamese) 45
Ninepur
Anushka Ravishankar (English) 47
Lost and Found
If
Discovery of India
From Excuse Me Is This India?
From Wish You Were Here
Uncle Tettra Hedran in a Pyramid, Egypt
Cousin Collum at the Tower Bridge,
London
Brother Marbel at the Taj Mahal, India
From Ogd
Sampurna Chattarji (English) 63
From The Food Finagle: A Culinary Caper
Idli-Pom
Very Fishy
Explained
Easy
Frankie
From The Boy Who Had Never Seen a Town
Shreekumar Varma (English) 67
Grandmother's Tales
Ghost Office
Vinda Karandikar (Marathi) 69
The Smart Aleck
Hospitality
Aatpaat Town
Pishi Mavshi's Backyard
Pishi Mavshi's Journey
The Zoo
Mangesh Padgavkar (Marathi) 74
The Fishing Line
Poor Little Sparrow
From Vaatratika
Introduction
A Little More Introduction
Uncle's Wife
Pious
Is It True?
The Nest
No
Mr Big Nose
There once was a man
Sarita Padki (Marathi) 80
Sixed-Up Mong
The Bathing Hymn
Usha Khadilkar (Marathi) 81
The Mango Jumped Right off the Tree
Anant Bhave (Marathi) 82
Bananas, Bananas
When, Then
Usha Mehta (Marathi) 84
A Blast
Leelavati Bhagwat (Marathi) 85
The Snail
Shanta Shelke (Marathi) 85
Once...
Gulzar (Hindi) 86
The One-Eyed Town
Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena (Hindi) 87
Mr Footloose
The Copycat Raja
One, Two, Three, Four
Sri Prasad (Hindi) 89
The Jamun
K. Ayyappa Paniker (Malayalam) 89
Murder
Muthalappuram Mohandas (Malayalam) 90
Two Sad Souls
Vaikom Muhammad Basheer (Malayalam) 91
From Me Grandad 'ad an Elephant
Kunjunni (Malayalam) 92
A Tongue-Twister
Because
Tell Me a Story
Nanda Kishore Bala (Oriya) 94
Raven, O Raven
Manoj Das (Oriya) 95
The Yellow Bear
J.E Das (Oriya) 96
Vain Cock
Bhagrathi Bhaina
Professor Kar
Sadanand Satpathy
Fear
Flying Rumours
Dash Benhur (Oriya) 99
Sing a Song, Brother, Sing!
Ickity-Sickity
The Shadow-Catching Baiya
Niranjan Behera (Oriya) 103
Madhia Hunday of Kandia Kunday
Ant-King's Grandson
The King and the Ant
Sri Sri (Telugu) 104
Clerihew
M.D. Muthukumaraswamy (`Sylvia') (Tamil) 105
A Detective Novel
S. Ramakrishnan (Tamil) 114
The History of the Ramasamy Lineage:
The Hidden Truths
Nonsense in Hindi Film
From Aashirwad 129
There Goes Gran
From Namak Halaal 131
I Can Talk English
From Amar Akbar Anthony
My Name is Anthony Gonsalves 133
Folk Nonsense
Nursery and Folk Rhymes
Bengali 137
Custard-apple mustard-parrots
Skitter-chitter fruit bats
The bears are eating tamarind
Sleepy eyes peepy eyes
Scrawly-molly skin-crawly
Nitter-natter
The blackest bat that purled
Shilly-shally asked for rice
Bhojpuri-Hindi 140
Sri Ganeshji
While playing I found a cowry shell
Gujarati 142
The buffalo climbed a peepal tree
Bluffer
Malayalam 143
Wormtooth
Hindi 143
Word for word
Fat cat
A, B, C, D
Barber's brother
The Match
Gadbadjhala
Tamil 146
Mister Rat
Grandpa's Beard
Don't stick out your tongue
Singapore Dandy
Food Fight
Urdu 149
Urdu Nursery Rhymes
Folk Drama
Assamese 150
Fool's Song
Kannada 150
The camel perched upon a brick
Oriya 151
Interludes from Oriya Operas
Folk tale
Thado-Kuki 152
Man and Spirit
Shedding Skin
Dao Sharpening
Haryanvi 154
Four Friends
Never-Ending Tales and Chain Verses
Makryalam 154
Mother of the Woods
Oriya 155
Never-Ending Tale
My tale has ended
Let's tell a tale I
Bengali 157
What's up?
Kannada 158
Jaggery Square
Marathi 158
And Then, Bhurrah!
Game Rhymes
Assamese 159
Where is That Mango?
Gujarati 160
Curds Gurdew
Kannada 160
Close your eyes
Frog, frog
Malayalam 161
The Circle Game Song
Marathi 162
Dumdee Dandy
Oriya 163
Let's tell a tale II
Punjabi 164
Hopscotch Rhyme
Kikali kalir di
Festival and Ceremony Verse
Gujarati 165
Naming Rhyme
Malayalam 166
Onam Song
Assamese 166
The duck chased off the civet
Kannada 167
A Mocking Wedding Song
Punjabi 167
Wedding Songs from Punjab
Pumpkin Song
She Will Come
My Husband's Woman
Lullaby and Folk Song
Assamese 170
O Flower: A Lullaby
Lullaby
Punjabi 172
Hoote-maate Lullaby
Parrot Lullaby
Mizo 173
Folk Songs from Mizoram
Folk Song I
Folk Song II
Kannada 174
Nursery Song
Children's Songs
Frogs twitter
In a government bus
Oh! Caw!
Look up at the sky!
Malayalam 176
Fib Song I
Fib Song II
Farmer's Song
Marathi 178
Rain Song
Rice Song
Tamil 179
A Mango Tree
`Thorn' Texts
Marathi 180
Three Villages Sant Namdev
Urdu 181
Shikar Nama Khwaja Banda Nawaz Gesu
Daraz
Gujarati 182
A Story about a Story
The Never-Never King
The False City
Tamil 185
On the tip of a thorn
Malayalam 186
On the tip of a needle
Oriya 187
Story of a Story, Hero of a Brother
The Rising Stars
Kaushik Vishwanath 193
Let Us Alphabetus
Arpita Shah 193
Phony Comb
Pooja Jhunjhunwala 194
The Glow-Worm and the Giraffe
Vinnie Mehta 195
The Joking Juice
Shaivya Sonkar 195
Yello Jello
Novnit Kashyap 196
The Mixed-Up City
Appendix Edward Lear's Indian Nonsense
The Cummerbund: An Indian Poem 199
The Akond of Swat 201
Indian Limericks 205
Poona Observer, May 1875 206
The Owl and the Pussy-cat 206
Notes on Contributors 209
Copyright Acknowledgements 221
amitabha mukerjee (mukerjee [at-symbol] gmail) 2011 Sep 24