Toba Tek Singh , Bengali meaning of Toba Tek Singh, Summary of Toba Tek Singh, Line By Line Bengali meaning

 

Toba Tek Singh – Gulzar

Line-by-Line Meaning & Analysis

Context Note: This poem by Gulzar is a tribute and a sequel to Saadat Hasan Manto’s famous short story "Toba Tek Singh". It references Bishan Singh, a Sikh asylum inmate who dies in the "no man's land" between India and Pakistan during the 1947 Partition, unable to comprehend why his home village (Toba Tek Singh) was separated from him.

Stanza 1

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English:
I've to go and meet Toba Tek Singh’s Bishan at Wagah!
I'm told he still stands on his swollen feet
Where Manto had left him,
He still mutters:

বাংলা:
আমাকে ওয়াঘায় গিয়ে টোবা টেক সিং-এর বিশানের সাথে দেখা করতে হবে!
আমাকে বলা হয়েছে সে এখনও তার ফোলা পায়ে দাঁড়িয়ে আছে
যেখানে মান্টো তাকে রেখে এসেছিলেন,
সে এখনও বিড়বিড় করে:

Explanation:
The poet feels a deep urge to visit the Wagah border to meet Bishan Singh (the protagonist of Manto's story). In Manto's story, Bishan Singh stood on his swollen legs for 15 years without sleeping. Gulzar imagines that his spirit is still standing precisely in that "no man's land" where Manto’s story ended, eternally confused and traumatized by the borders drawn by politicians.

Word Notes:
Wagah = ওয়াঘা (The border crossing between India and Pakistan)
swollen feet = ফোলা পা
mutters = বিড়বিড় করে

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English:
Opad di gud gud di moongdi dal di laltain

বাংলা:
ওপাদ দি গুড গুড দি মুংদি ডাল দি লালটেইন

Explanation:
This is the exact gibberish (nonsense language) Bishan Singh used to speak in Manto's original story. It symbolizes the absolute absurdity and meaninglessness of the Partition. When the political division of a country makes no logical sense, language itself breaks down into nonsense.

Stanza 2

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English:
I've to locate that mad fellow
Who used to speak up from a branch high above:
"He’s god —
He alone has to decide — whose village to whose side."

বাংলা:
আমাকে সেই পাগল লোকটিকে খুঁজে বের করতে হবে
যে উঁচু ডাল থেকে কথা বলত:
"সে ঈশ্বর -
তাকেই সিদ্ধান্ত নিতে হবে - কার গ্রাম কোন দিকে পড়বে।"

Explanation:
The poet recalls another character from Manto's story—an inmate who climbed a tree and declared himself God, refusing to live in either India or Pakistan. This "madman" stated that only God has the true authority to divide land and decide the fate of villages, mocking the political leaders who played God during the Partition.

Word Notes:
locate = খুঁজে বের করা
mad fellow = পাগল লোকটি
decide = সিদ্ধান্ত নেওয়া

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English:
When will he move down that branch —
He is to be told:
"There are some more — left still
Who are being divided, made into piecess —
There are some more partitions to be done
That partition was only the first one."

বাংলা:
সে কবে ওই ডাল থেকে নিচে নামবে -
তাকে বলতে হবে:
"আরও কিছু মানুষ এখনও বাকি আছে
যাদের ভাগ করা হচ্ছে, টুকরো টুকরো করা হচ্ছে -
আরও কিছু বিভাজন করা বাকি আছে
সেই বিভাজনটা ছিল কেবল প্রথমটি।"

Explanation:
Gulzar wants to tell this "madman" a tragic truth about the modern world. The trauma of 1947 was not the end. Even today, people are still being divided by religion, borders, and hatred. The society is continuously being fractured into pieces. The 1947 Partition was merely the beginning of an endless cycle of divisions in the subcontinent.

Word Notes:
piecess (pieces) = টুকরো
partitions = বিভাজন/দেশভাগ

Stanza 3

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English:
I've to go and meet Toba Tek Singh’s Bishan at Wagah,
His friend Afzal has to be informed —
Lahna Singh, Wadhwa Singh, Bheen Amrit
Had arrived here butchered —
Their heads were looted with the luggage on the way behind.

বাংলা:
আমাকে ওয়াঘায় গিয়ে টোবা টেক সিং-এর বিশানের সাথে দেখা করতে হবে,
তার বন্ধু আফজলকে জানাতে হবে -
লহনা সিং, ওয়াধওয়া সিং, ভীন অমৃত
এখানে এসে পৌঁছেছে জবাই হয়ে -
পথের মাঝেই জিনিসপত্রের সাথে তাদের মাথাও লুট হয়ে গেছে।

Explanation:
The poet must go to the border to deliver horrifying news. He needs to inform Bishan and his Muslim friend Afzal (another character reference from Manto's world) about the brutal reality of the refugee migrations. The names mentioned (Lahna, Wadhwa, Bheen) represent the innocent victims who tried to cross the border but were massacred on the trains. In a chilling metaphor, the poet says their "heads were looted" along with their luggage, highlighting the extreme dehumanization and senseless slaughter of the Partition riots.

Word Notes:
informed = জানানো
butchered = জবাই করা/নৃশংসভাবে হত্যা করা
looted = লুট করা
luggage = জিনিসপত্র

Summary of "Toba Tek Singh" by Gulzar

Gulzar’s poem "Toba Tek Singh" is a deeply moving intertextual poem that acts as a sequel to Saadat Hasan Manto’s iconic short story about the 1947 Partition. The poet expresses a strong desire to visit the Wagah border to meet the ghost of Bishan Singh, the Sikh asylum inmate who died in the "no man's land" because he refused to accept a world where his home village was abruptly moved to a different country.

Gulzar notes that Bishan is still standing there on his swollen feet, muttering the same gibberish that symbolizes the total absurdity of dividing a land and its people based on religion. The poet also wants to speak to the "madman" who climbed a tree claiming to be God. Gulzar wishes to inform him that the tragedy of 1947 was not an isolated event; rather, the society continues to be fragmented, divided, and broken into pieces even today.

In the final, haunting stanza, Gulzar brings up the gruesome violence of the Partition. He feels the need to report the deaths of innocent people like Lahna Singh and Wadhwa Singh, who arrived across the border completely butchered, their heads stolen along with their luggage. Through this poem, Gulzar highlights the endless trauma of the Partition, suggesting that the madness Manto wrote about has not ended—it has simply taken new forms in modern society.