O tAr pAkhir DAkE ghumiyE pɒDE (alt: uTHE) pAkhir DAkE jEgE KOthAy ɛmon khɛlE tɒDit, ɛmon kAlO mEghE, You (tumi) will never (nAkO) find (khu.njE pAbE) a country (dEshti) such as this (ɛmon) anywhere (kOthA’O)! That which is (O shE) the queen (rAnI) of all countries (shɒkol dEshEr), that is (shE jE) my (AmAr) birthplace (jɒnmo bhUmi). That which is (O shE) created (tOyrI ) with dreams (shɒpno), that (shE) country (dEsh) is surrounded (ghɛrA) by memories (shmriti ). In this (Ey) earth (boshundhɒrA) which is ours (AmAdEr), filled with (bhɒrA ) with riches (dhɒno), grain (dhanno) and flowers (pushpo), in the midst (mAjhE) of which (tAhAr) is (ACHE) a (ɛk) country (dEsh) which is the best (shErA) amongst all (shɒkol) countries (dEshEr). ShE jE AmAr jɒnmo bhUmi, shE jE AmAr jɒnmo bhUmi O shE shɒkol dEshEr rAnI shE jE AmAr jɒnmo bhUmi ƐmOn dEshti kOthA’O khu.njE pAbE nAkO tumi O shE shɒpno diyE tOyrI shE dEsh smriti diyE ghɛrA TAhAr mAjhE ACHE dEsh ɛk shɒkol dEshEr shErA My thanks to my husband who proof read and corrected the Bengali script for me. The lyrics are in Bengali with English transliteration. I’ve selected a beautifully sung rendition from the West Bengal Sangeet Academy for you to listen to while you follow along with the words below. Note also that rAnI in Sanskrit, Hindi and Bengali is with the soft न (n) unlike Tamil where the hard ण (ண – N) is used. Rya like in sUrya (sun in Sanskrit) is replaced with rjɒ Sw like in swapna (dream in Sanskrit) is replaced with sh S as in sakal (from sakala, total / everything in Sanskrit) is replaced with sh V as in vasundhara (earth in Sanskrit) is replaced with b Other than that, Sanskrit words when used in Bengali have the following replacements of consonants (I list the ones in the song, this is not a universal list). The other vowel sound which occurs frequently is ɛ like ai in air. ![]() This is the ‘default’ vowel sound in Bengali it often replaces अ in Sanskrit. To be able to transliterate Bengali, I have the need for two more vowel symbols. My readers would be well used to the modified version of the Harvard Kyoto transliteration scheme which I use in this blog. Given that my audience is almost 99% non-Bengali, I am writing this post to bring this song to the attention of all you readers.īefore I transcribe it, I would like to bring some important points about pronunciation in Bengali. This song has been sung in the past by M.S.Subbulakshmi as well. Perhaps a new set of audience will come to appreciate these beautiful words. Still, I am very happy that he chose to present this lovely piece of nationalistic poetry by Dwijendralal Ray (1863-1913). I understand it is so difficult for us Indians to learn and appreciate each other’s languages, isn’t it! It is all so different, especially Tamil and Bengali. But I have to say this much as I hate to do so – the pronunciation just didn’t work. His musicality was beautiful and his rendition full of emotion. I listened with interest as I know this song well. ![]() It was a fan request evidently people have heard him sing this before. The last song he sang was the Bengali song Dhano Dhanno Pushpo Bhora. ![]() I am a fan of TMK I almost always enjoy his music. I was recently listening to the live telecast of T.M.Krishna’s concert at Spic Macay convention. So it gives me great pleasure when famous musicians bravely launch into songs from elsewhere in India with passion and enjoyment. In India, we are all different but we are none of us foreigners! As strange as it may be to reach some corner of India where the language is indecipherable, the culture alien and the food unrecognisable, we still look at the people and accept the oneness of being Indian. But immigrants remain foreigners at least for a generation or two sometimes for more. In today’s migratory world, many countries can claim the same. I have always been proud of coming from a multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious country.
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