Hour of Coming

The Hour of Coming is the popular[1] English translation of the Oriya poem "Asibaara Belaa" by the Indian poet and translator Dr Tapan Kumar Pradhan. The poem, as part of the poet's poem collection Kalahandi, was selected for the Indian Literature Golden Jubilee Literary Translation Award 1957-2007 of Sahitya Akademi. It received widespread acclaim following its publication in the Indian Literature journal in November 2007. The poem turned out to be almost prophetic, and became famous due to the miraculous coincidences between its final stanza and the events at the inaugural World Twenty20 Cricket final match.

The Poem

Death does not come when you call him
However much you call, he never comes :
He comes only at his appointed hour -
Playing hide and seek, biding his time
Comes Death one day
all of a sudden !


When you are lying alone in your bed of rags,
With flies on your face and blood in nostrils,
Knees full of pus, boils under buttocks
With no one to say even 'Ah Dear !' to you
With no strength left to vomit things out
With eyes filled with tears mixed with pain
You cry out aloud - Death ! Death ! O Death!
Can't bear it any more, Oh take me away Death !!
But never comes Death !


When you are perched alone in the middle of the night
Under the village banyan tree wrapped in a blanket
Looking at your younger brother's funeral pyre :
In the burning embers you see wife's dead face
And remember play mates, school-friends, dead face
And cry out loud pressing aching heart to chest
Friends gone, kin gone, daughter gone to in-laws :
Why do you, Lord, still keep me in this world !
You wish, if only
could just now
come Death !!
But never comes Death.


When you relax supine in your morning's warm bed
Pressing the radio close, listening to cricket :
India against Pakistan - ah, The Final Match !!
Ten runs to win, and just another wicket :
Your daughter comes near and breaks the news
Son-in-law's promotion - ah, what a good news,
Playing in her lap little four-month old grandson
with soft pink little fingers fondles your beard :
"Oh dear one ! my diamond one ! my golden one, my little one !
Umhh... my remaining years be all yours, O lovely one.... !"
You softly kiss your grandson's forehead -
Four runs to win :


Then comes Death !

Comments and Criticism

The poem personifies death and says that death remains elusive as long as a suffering person fervently longs for it. It comes paradoxically only when the desire for it is gone. Death mostly comes unexpectedly, often when the person does not actually desire it..[2]


Elements of Prophesy and Miraculous Coincidences

The fourth and last stanza of the poem describes an old man listening to the running commentary of an India-Pakistan cricket final match on radio. It may be noted that the final match of World Twenty20 Cricket was held on 24 September 2007 at Johannesburg in South Africa. India batted first, scoring 157 runs in 20 overs, and in reply Pakistan required to score at least five runs off the last ball, with just one wicket in hand.[3]

It is interesting to note that the poem Hour of Coming was originally written by Dr Pradhan during January 2007, and it was translated by him into English only during the first week of August 2007, almost a month before the Twenty20 Championship was held during September 11–24, 2007. Before this championship India and Pakistan had never clashed together in the final of any cricket tournament. The poem not only prophesized such a final match, but also the exact events in the last over of the match where Pakistan was left to score five runs off the last four balls with just a single wicket left. Although Pakistan had the upper hand, as luck would have it Misbah-ul-Haq got out scooping the third ball, resulting in sort of a Sudden Death for Pakistan. [4]

References

  1. ↑ ""Popular Indian Poems"".
  2. ↑ ""Lyrics of Life - Comments on Hour of Coming"".
  3. ↑ ""Twenty20 World Cup Final 2007"".
  4. ↑ Soni, Paresh (24 September 2007). "Misbah's Scoop - Last Over Death for Pakistan". BBC News.

See also

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