Now Gitanjali in Chakma

The statue of Mahakavi Rabindranath Tagore at Jorasanko Thakurbari ( his ancestral home) in Kolkata on Saturday. A file Photo: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury.

Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali has been translated into Chakma by prominent writer Timir Baran.

The tribe is concentrated in a few northeastern States and the neighbouring Chittagong hill tracts of Bangladesh.

“It has been a great honour for us to publish ‘Chakma Bhasay Gitanjali’ or Gitanjali in the Chakma dialect,” said Gavinda Dhar, senior official of Srot Publishing House on Thursday. The book is a compilation of 157 translated poems of Gitanjali.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar released the book in the centenary year of Rabindranath Tagore winning the Nobel. The function was held at the Agartala Press Club in the outer vicinity of Ujjayanta Palace, often visited by the poet during his lifetime.

Mr. Sarkar lauded the translation after releasing the book along with other publications.

“Rabindranath Tagore has been in the hearts and minds of all sections of people in the region,” said Chakma tribe veteran and intellectual Srato Ranjan Khisa. The new work will bring fame to the tribe, he added.

Mr. Khisa hoped the work would be appreciated internationally. Gitanjali, originally written in Bengali, had earlier been translated into Khasi language in Meghalaya.