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Profile of Anubhav Tulasi
Date of birth: 03.12.1958
Place of birth: Tulasimukh,Dist.Nagaon,State,Assam
Permanent address: 40,Jayanagar,Maligaon,Guwahati-781011 Assam India
Profession: Teacher,Gauhati University College
Hobby: Poetry,Music,Films,e-mailing etc.
Specilization: An Indian Poet writing in Assamese authored17 books.
Phone:+913612572298(R);+919435041169(M)
e-mail: anutul@gmail.com ; anubhavtulasi@yahoo.co.in
Lives permanently at Guwahati with his wife,son and daughter.
A Poem of Anubhav Tulasi in English Translation:

HYDERA DIARY
Anubhav Tulasi

1
Had no idea the fast train would take so long
to cross the thorny woods
I don’t quite remember where I left
the noon high and mellow on the red taste
of tomatoes in Deccan delicacies
but had asked the grown-up Godavari
to halt at Rajamundi
I’m also to meet the yellow of tobacco blooms
only on the way back
for there’s not much time on my hands
the train has yet to climb the low and high hills
the sun has just about entered the tunnel of evening

2
It doesn’t really matter if no one else is waiting
at least the dense darkness of eleven thirty at night
would surely be there
even when the whole town is lost in sleep
stars in the eyes of nocturnal birds will be up
I’ll call a maiden star among them by the first name
who’ll take me to the heights of sheer fancy
where inviting beds would be laid and made
we will sleep only on the one made of flowers

3
No one stays here anymore but tales
and you get the tales from parasitic climbers
that come and settle down on glory’s crown
like a harbinger of death
by the road marked by the stench of bats’ droppings
had come to look after the ruins
but wouldn’t even think of leaving
blatantly there or in hiding
making the invincible fortress moulder away
have destroyed the portal
and blocked the passage of the tunnel
but they are wary and wonder
whether to touch the abiding beauty

4
(the clock at Salarjung)

Even time may not have that clock
there in Nawab Salarjung’s horde
rows of seats in front of spectators
each second of the busy smith ticks on
at work day and night
unknown to the culture of rest
the one who comes on time to strike the hour
he, too, is a workaholic, wouldn’t sit around
only the seats sit filled with spectators

5
There is no water in the river on the map
there is no water in the river Mosi
no water means it’s a dead river
the dead belong to the grounds
with rites performed in fire or earth
the Mosi, too, has, in the city of destiny
the fortune to continue as mummy

6
Love built an edifice
to four eyes meeting
an ideal to patricians and plebians alike
the dazzling pearl market in front
and the honeycomb under the burkha

8
At about half eight or nine at night
an unknown knock at my door
I take my time opening it
the chair remained untenanted
the whiteness of the bed-sheet welcomed instead
the warmth of sparkling water on crystal glass
with dainty dates
getting to know a hundred year old friend
buses, autos, boats and the shade trees of Osmania
have aged by three centuries

9
A corpse afloat on water
leaving the leaves and flowers of Lumbini
taking the road of Hussain Sagar
easy cruising of some ten minutes
I saw the Buddha in dusky water
there the ‘abhoy mudra’ of the right hand
so immense and lovely
in this still, quiet aspect of Sakyasingha
I wanted to but couldn’t say
words were lost between contending lips
for not on dusky water, no
it was in my lips that a corpse was afloat

Tran.
Pradip Acharya
This poem is open for readers and comments aresolicited.