Madiralaya mein kab se baitha,
Pee na saka ab tak haala,
Yatna sahit bharta hoon, koi
Kintu ulat deta pyala;
                Manav-Bal ke aage nirbal 
                Bhagya suna vidyalaya mein;
'Bhagya-prabal, manav nirbal' ka
Paath padhati Madhushala.

( Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Madhushala)

(Complete Madhushala in Devnagri is available on my "Writings Page". Check out the section "Hindi Poems by Others")

Literal Translation (To the extent I could do it)

For so long I have been sitting in the wine-shop, but have not been able to drink wine. I fill up the glass with dedicated effort, but somebody turns down the glass (so that the wine spills out). That fate is powerless before man's power is what I had heard in the school. The tavern teaches the lesson of the fate being powerful and men being powerless.

Categories: Excerpts