INVINCIBLE (poem) (Assamese Translations)

Chandra Kumar Agarwala was an eminent writer, poet, journalist from Assam. He is a pioneer people
of Jonaki Era, the age of romanticism of Assamese literature. Thus there is no doubt that he has cast
wide the romanticist element in his poetry, since his poetry reeks with objects from the Assamese
culture or elements from the Assamese landscape as metaphors or symbols in his poetry, by virtue
of which he incorporates his message or thoughts in his poems.

The poem 'Invincible' is one such poem in which Chandra Kumar Agarwalla has used elements from
the Assamese landscape and culture to drive forth the spirit of indomitability that he has nurtured
and continues to nurture in him. He accepts that fate is larger than his strength and very cruel to his
existence and conscience, yet this poem is an artistic expression of his challenge to fate and the
declaration of his will to resist and stand up and walk, even if that means that he will stumble and
fall over several times.

The first stanza starts off with the line "Fate, though you've crushed...'. This marks his acceptance of
the fact that the machinations of fate has always been strong and this time too it has been
successful in subduing the poet with all its might. The very first line and the line succeding it, i.e,
"The crops of my life" also introduces to us the romantic element of his poem. He has juxtaposed the
idea of meaningful existence with that of the "crops". Since food crops sustain the average farmer
within the agrarian society, thus these crops signify life. The poet has used very humble relatable
elements from the Assamese Culture and its landscape to introduce us to the idea of Man being tied
with Nature and thus its fate is determined more or less by Nature. Before the advent of technology,
Man had to be humble since its livelihood was determined by the environment in which it resided. In
this way, Man is the subject of abject fate.

Since Man was subject to the oscillating seasons of Nature, thus agriculture was determined by the
quality of the seasons, and thus the crops were subject to failing if the season was harsh or for many
other natural reasons. Thus there is an intense understanding of sorrow in the third line of the first
stanza. The image of the failed crops (life) being grinded on the "stone of sorrow" (another element
of Assamese culture) is evidence of this. The poet has borrowed metaphors of contemporary life to
drive forth the idea of cruelty of Nature (Fate).

However, the poet overturns this defeatist image in the 4th line, i.e, "Just wait and see". The 4th line
is where he marks the change in the tone of the poem. The 4th line of the poem immediately
overturns the idea of total defeat into a possibility, that there is still life in the crushed soul of the
poet, that he retains enough strength to be able to resist and begin anew.
The 5th and the 6th line ("For my tears will fold it in to make cakes and tarts of hope") posits that
the poet might weep as a result of his troubles, but then he will hold back his tears and conjure
immense strength to use this sorrow to solidify his resolve to start afresh and produce results, i.e,
exercising hope in the face of tribulations ("cakes and tarts of hope"; cakes refer to the Assamese
pitha, and it requires a lot of water to prepare, which then solidifies into a sticky paste)

Also, fate might give the poet "sops" (thing of little value given to appease someone to stop
complaints) in the form of the groaning of "countless souls at the unyielding fields" (indicative of
failed agriculture) just so to console him that there are others just like him that are suffering, so he
need not need to worry. But the poet is firm in his resolution to resist and produce results in the face
of this cruelty and "sops" that constantly make a mockery of his existence and resolution. The poet
accepts his stature in the face of Fate, yet he resolves to face it even if he has to face failure several
times and more and leave behind a legacy of abject poverty and wretchedness because of his
resolution ("no matter if bitter wastes alone are my lot").

The second stanza reflects the sheer cruelty of Fate (Nature) since it has "burnt to cinders and
ground to dust" his "bubbling life" in the "furnace of sorrow", which is indicative of the idea that
once his life was marked with fecundity and happiness, which was then laid waste by fate with
indifference. However, there is an inclination in him to transcend this too which is marked by the
word "Though" ("Though you have...).

The poet carries over the marked tension in the 2nd Stanza ("Though you have...in the furnace of
sorrow") over to the 3rd stanza and ends it with a resolution in the first line, with an underlying
threat ("But just you wait and see"), which he follows up with the metaphor of the "creeper of my
life". The creeper is a plant that is not upright and strong enough to stand on its own. Moreover, it is
fickle and wiry and requires a well laid support for it to grow. The creeper however, grows
nonetheless and it grows with flowers and leaves on it, and can survive well in the desert also. The
poet has used the creeper with its leaves and flowers on it, growing in the desert, to analogise it
with his life and his resolve to grow and move forward in the most cruel circumstances ("desert")
("For the creeper...with leaves and flowers").

Also, "Countless hearts will rest here" is indicative of the fact that other individuals in need of
psychological support will be able to take rest under the resolve of the poet and seek his inspiration
to try anew.

"The desert itself will bloom...Thorns and thorny buds of the Cruel hours !"

The "desert" signifies hostility to habitat and life. The "desert" is fate in its physical form. Crops do
not grow in the desert, but the creeper can survive in the desert. The "creeper" thus is a symbol of
much resistance in the hostile desert. The poet says that the desert will be filled with this creepers
when there was nothing else but "thorns and thorny buds" symbolizing the inhumane labour of the
poet in order to overcome the pitiable state thrust upon him by fate. The final stanza thus ends on a
note of positivity whereby the poet declares that even the "desert" will be filled with life since he
resolves to overcome it.

Thus he will stand firm even though he is beaten but resist he will since he feels he must, indicating
the previous resolve of the poet established in the previous stanzas.