Make Up Your Mind, an anthology of 25 poems in Bengali by Nabaneeta Dev Sen and their English translation by her daughter Nandana Sen, was launched at Oxford Bookstore by poet Joy Goswami on April 16. After unveiling the slim volume of verse, which features a painting by Rabindranath Tagore on the cover, Goswami read out many of the Bengali poems, and Nandana their English versions.

Picked personally by Nandana from her mother’s large body of work, the book contains “25 poems about choice”. 
“I translated them in secret since this was a birthday surprise for my mother,” said the actor-writer and child rights activist. 

Nabaneeta couldn’t attend the launch on Saturday because of ill health and her presence and ready wit were greatly missed by Nandana as well as the audience. “Nabaneetadi has travelled far and wide around the world but when she writes her poetry, she delves within. The beauty of her poetry lies in her ability to convey so much in such few words,” said Goswami. 

Published under iUniverse, Make Up Your Mind is priced Rs 250.

Pictures: Rashbehari Das