The Seven Tales of Damp Waiting

What a glorious downpour came today!
Something made me play Rabindranath's heroine,
and suddenly I see the rain cascading down!

I ran to get drenched, abandoning everything!
My vermillion parting turned white,
the red lac washed from my feet,
and I stood there, soaked, gripping the balcony rail.
What a game began—between the rain and... that man!

Tell me, what keeps you so terribly busy
that you've managed to resist the temptation
of seeing me in this rain-soaked body?

I won't go to the bathroom today, I'll stay in these wet clothes.
Let this body be seen a little! All this elaborate preparation—
if he won't look, what's the point of any of it?
Let this drenched body be seen even more clearly!

Will he be angry if he finds out? Let him be—he's completely impossible anyway!
Even keeping himself so hidden, he knows full well
I'm an orange kite, and he himself is that kite's string!

I've told him everything in my heart!
Tell me, who should be ashamed now? Surely it's me!
If that's how it is, then why does he make me wait like this?
What's the need for him not to come quickly,
just standing here and there by the roadside in the rain?

Today I'm wearing my nose ring, and the waist chain too.
I'll definitely turn his head today!
Drown him in intoxication—he'll forget all his office work!

So simple? He'll deceive me? What kind of man has he turned out to be?
Here I am, sitting on the stairs in this wet sari—
let him come now and say "sorry" this time, I'll give him a proper scolding!

Even my glass bangles are still dripping wet,
how beautiful the bangles look!
If he's going to be so busy with work, why did he say he'd love me?
Let him come today—I won't let him love me even a drop more,
I'll tell him everything to his face... that fool!

Oh! Look, my kohl has washed away too,
there's nothing left worth showing him!
After one shower, a gentle new rain has started,
why won't that worthless man come even now!

Oh my! How fiercely the lightning flashes—
doesn't he fear my being alone? What pleasure do you get from deceiving me?
Who will suffer more, tell me?
Who will go mad thinking and thinking,
if I catch an illness sitting here soaked like this?

Water from the jasmine flowers in my hair drips down my back,
such a sight you're not even seeing!
Even if I let that go,
who will wipe the water from my back?
Does the man have any time at all?
Or has he forgotten that he must be the one to wipe my back—
my hands don't reach that far, doesn't he know?

For whom did I put on this lipstick?
To show, or to let it wash away in the rain!

Will my wet, thirsty lips
dry up and become parched from all this waiting?
What do you think? If you miss the chance to kiss wet lips,
those dry lips of mine, while kissing your lips,
will voice all their complaints one by one!

Even my silver anklets are stubbornly staying put... they want to get wetter... more and more!
Every day I remove them myself, but today they're wishing like me
that someone else would take responsibility for removing them!

Let all the rainwater that has touched my body soak him too,
let the rain fall even harder, drenching him as thoroughly wet as me!

Hey you! Turn your mind away from work for a moment!
Float your nose a little in the current of my wet hair,
stand here once, holding my wet waist tight,
sink your lips into mine and take all my tenderness!

Enough work now—give those files a little resignation today!
Hold me, touch me! Bring your dry body close to my wet one,
smear all my waiting, my hurt pride, my beauty, my splendor across your entire body!