Translated from the Bengali: SM Shahrukh

Hunger engulfs me: In my belly, the feeling
Spreads all over my body – every moment – all devouring hunger
Like drought sets fire to the grain field of chaitra –
Same with incendiary hunger, the body burns.
Have no demands if I get to eat twice a day
People ask for a lot, everyone does:
Houses, cars, bundles of cash - some hanker for fame;
My demand is but little: the stomach burns to the fringes-
I want rice – an unabashed asking for it – steaming or not,
Rice cooked from fine grains or the red course variety
Distributed at the ration shops, I have no preference
Just want an earthenware bowl full of rice:
I will let go of all demands if I get my two square meals of rice daily!
Have no irrational greed, have no sexual urge –
Didn't want the beautiful woman with her sari worn under the navel,
Let whoever wants take her, give her to whoever suits your whim –
Know it well: I have no need for them.

If you cannot fulfil this little demand of mine,
Your kingdom will face total destruction;
The hungry doesn't care about good or bad, law and order –
Will eat anything that falls on the way, indiscriminately;
If by some chance I find you
You will become a dish to the wolfish hunger.
If the hunger sweeps all and sundry
It will only invite horrifying consequences.

The viewer and the vision are consumed in succession
Finally we will eat in this order: trees, rivers, villages, footpaths
The flow of dirty water in the sewers, pedestrians,
Women with copious behinds, the food minister with his flagged car-
Nothing is insignificant in the ravenous path of my hunger.
Give me rice, you bastard, or I'll eat your map.