Introduction
Before we explain, সুখের অভাব – The Absence of Happiness, we must know, What is happiness?
Is it something we find in the abundance of life – among achievements, possessions, promises, and the people who remain beside us? Or can happiness live in something far more fragile: a familiar voice, a fleeting moment of closeness, a sudden call that makes the whole world disappear?
Perhaps happiness does not always ask to be possessed. Sometimes, it is simply a feeling – quietly arriving in an unexpected moment, touching the heart, and leaving before we can give it a name.
“সুখের অভাব – The Absence of Happiness” is a poem about those delicate moments.
There is no grand declaration of love here, nor any certainty about the relationship between two souls. Instead, there is longing, tenderness, rain, closeness, distance, and the irresistible pull of a single voice. The poem gathers these seemingly ordinary moments and calls them by one beautiful name: happiness.
Yet, beneath all those moments lies something deeper.
As the poem “সুখের অভাব – The Absence of Happiness” unfolds, happiness appears again and again – until the final lines quietly turn everything upside down. What happens when the person who gives meaning to all those little moments is no longer there?
Perhaps then, we discover that sometimes the greatest measure of happiness is not what we have, but who is missing when everything else remains.
And perhaps that is where this poem “সুখের অভাব – The Absence of Happiness” truly begins.
“সুখের অভাব”: মূল কবিতা | The Original Poem
তোমার কণ্ঠ শুনে অধীর আমার হৃদয়ে,
মন্ত্রমুগ্ধের মতো চঞ্চলতা!
এই তো সুখ!
সম্পর্কের কোন মায়াজাল নেই;
তবুও তোমার পাশে বসে,
কাছে বা দূরে কোথাও হারিয়ে যাওয়া!
হ্যাঁ, এই তো সুখ!
এলোমেলো বাতাসে তুমুল বৃষ্টিতে ভিজে,
তোমার বুকে মাথা রেখে –
রঙের ছোঁয়ায় আলো দেখা!
এই তো সুখ!
তোমার একটি মাত্র ডাকে –
সমস্ত পৃথিবীকে উপেক্ষা করে,
তোমার কাছে ছুটে যাওয়া!
এই তো সুখ!
আমার সমস্ত কিছুর মাঝে,
তোমার না থাকাটাই আমার – সুখের অভাব!
English Translation
The Absence of Happiness
At the sound of your voice,
my heart grows restless,
stirring with a spellbound delight.
This is happiness!
There is no web of illusion binding us;
yet sitting beside you,
or losing myself somewhere—
near you, or far away—
yes, this is happiness!
Soaked in a torrential rain
beneath the restless, wandering wind,
resting my head upon your chest—
to see the light
through a touch of colours…
This is happiness!
At the sound of your single call,
to leave the whole world behind
and run straight to you—
yes, this is happiness!
Amidst everything that is mine,
it is your absence alone
that leaves me
bereft of happiness.
Part 1 – The First Touch of Happiness
When a Voice Touches the Heart.
Sometimes, happiness arrives without an invitation.
It does not need a celebration, a beautiful place, or something extraordinary to happen. Sometimes, all it takes is a voice – a familiar voice that reaches the heart before the mind has even had time to understand why.
The poem begins with this quiet yet overwhelming experience. At the sound of your voice, the heart becomes restless. A strange, almost spellbound excitement begins to move within. Nothing in the outside world may have changed, yet something inside has suddenly awakened.
This is one of the beautiful mysteries of human emotion: how a simple voice can carry the power to transform an ordinary moment into something precious.
The poet does not attempt to explain this feeling. Instead, she gives it a name: “This is happiness!”
There is something wonderfully pure about that declaration. Happiness here is not connected to possession, certainty, or permanence. It exists entirely within a moment – a moment created simply by hearing someone whose presence matters deeply.
Perhaps that is why the opening feels so intimate. The poet is not searching for some grand definition of happiness. She has discovered it in something incredibly small: the sound of a beloved voice.
And perhaps we have all known such moments.
A voice on the other end of a phone.
A familiar laugh carried by the wind.
A name spoken softly.
A few words that somehow stay with us long after the conversation has ended.
The moment may be brief.
But the feeling it leaves behind can be immeasurable.
Sometimes, that is all happiness asks of us – to recognize it when it quietly touches our heart.
Part 2 – Near, Yet Somewhere Far Away
When Closeness Needs No Name.
There are relationships that are carefully defined by names, promises, and expectations. And then there are connections that exist beyond definition.
The poet gently steps into that unnamed space when she says there is no web of illusion binding the two souls together. There is no claim, no formal promise, no certainty that gives the relationship a conventional name. Yet, strangely, that absence of definition does not diminish the feeling.
Perhaps it makes the feeling even more delicate.
And then comes the beautiful paradox:
“কাছে বা দূরে কোথাও হারিয়ে যাওয়া” — “losing myself somewhere, near or far away.”
The poet does not say that happiness exists only in physical closeness. What matters is not the distance between bodies, but the invisible space where one person’s presence continues to live within another.
Sometimes we can be physically close to someone and still feel worlds apart. And sometimes, someone can be thousands of miles away, yet feel impossibly near. That is the strange geography of the heart.
Distance is measured in miles by the world, but the heart measures it differently. A person may be absent from our surroundings and yet present in almost everything we see, hear, remember, and feel.
There is also something beautifully freeing about the absence of a “name” for this connection. Without promises or expectations, happiness can exist in its purest form—a moment shared simply because two souls find comfort in being near one another.
No possession is necessary. No explanation is required. Sometimes, being there is enough.
And sometimes, even when the person is not there, the heart carries their presence so vividly that distance itself seems to disappear. That, too, is happiness. Yes, this is happiness.
Part 3 – Happiness in the Rain
When the World Turns into Light
There are moments when happiness becomes something we can almost see, touch, and feel.
The poem now leaves behind the quiet intimacy of a voice and carries us into nature – into restless wind and pouring rain. The atmosphere becomes wild and untamed, yet within that turbulence, the poet discovers a place of profound tenderness.
She imagines herself drenched in the rain, the wind moving wildly around her, while her head rests against the beloved’s chest.
It is a simple image, but emotionally it is immense. Perhaps this is another form of happiness: finding peace in the midst of a storm.
Then comes one of the most delicate images in the poem:
“রঙের ছোঁয়ায় আলো দেখা” — “to see the light through a touch of colours.”
Light and colour are not merely visual elements here. They become expressions of emotion. Happiness seems to transform the way the world is perceived. Ordinary rain is no longer simply rain; the wind is no longer merely wind. Everything is touched by feeling, therefore everything seems more luminous.
When we are happy, even familiar things can appear newly beautiful.
The poet does not need to describe the embrace in elaborate detail. The image of resting her head upon the beloved’s chest says enough. It suggests trust, surrender, comfort, and an intimate silence in which nothing needs to be explained.
For a moment, the storm outside becomes almost irrelevant.
There is only the rain, the wind, the warmth of another heartbeat—and the strange, beautiful sensation of seeing light where perhaps there was only darkness before. This is happiness.
Not because the storm has disappeared, but because, for one precious moment, the heart has found somewhere to rest.
Part 4 – A Single Call
When One Voice Becomes the Whole World
Sometimes, it takes only one call.
Just a call.
And suddenly, everything else becomes unimportant.
The poet captures this powerful impulse in one of the most emotionally spontaneous moments of the poem: at a single call from the beloved, she is ready to turn away from the entire world and run toward that person.
There is something wonderfully human in this reaction.
One call – and the heart knows where it wants to go.
The phrase “সমস্ত পৃথিবীকে উপেক্ষা করে” — “leaving the whole world behind” gives this moment its intensity. The poet is not literally describing a rejection of everything around her. Rather, she is revealing how completely the beloved can occupy her emotional world in that instant.
Nothing else matters.
The outside world becomes distant. Time seems to lose its importance. Logic becomes secondary to longing.
There is also something beautifully impulsive about “ছুটে যাওয়া” – “to run toward you.” The poet does not say she will walk, travel, or go. She will run.
That single word carries urgency.
It tells us that some emotions do not wait for permission. They move before reason can intervene. When the heart recognizes where it longs to be, the body simply follows.
Perhaps this is what makes certain connections so unforgettable. They do not always announce themselves through grand gestures. Sometimes their strength is revealed in the smallest reaction:
Whose call would make you leave everything behind?
Whose voice could make the distance between here and there suddenly feel unbearable?
Whose presence could turn an ordinary journey into something you would make without hesitation?
For the poet, the answer is clear.
One call is enough.
One call can become a summons of the heart.
And once again, the poem returns to its tender refrain: Yes, this is happiness.
Part 5 – The Meaning of Happiness
Happiness Is Not Always What We Think It Is
By now, the poem has taken us through several moments of happiness.
A voice that makes the heart restless.
A presence that needs no name.
A place beside someone where even a storm feels beautiful.
A single call powerful enough to make the whole world disappear.
None of these moments is extraordinary in the conventional sense.
There is no wealth here.
No achievement.
No celebration.
No promise of permanence.
And yet, for the poet, these are the moments that give life its colour.
Perhaps this is where the poem quietly challenges our usual understanding of happiness. We often imagine happiness as something large and lasting—as though we must reach a particular destination before we are allowed to call ourselves happy.
But perhaps happiness is much more fragile than that. Perhaps it lives in fragments.
These moments may be brief, but their emotional weight can be enormous.
The repeated words “এই তো সুখ!” — “This is happiness!” become more meaningful each time they return. The refrain feels almost like the poet is discovering happiness anew, moment after moment. She does not need to search for some distant definition. She recognizes happiness whenever the heart experiences it.
And perhaps that is an important truth about human emotion: happiness is often recognized before it is understood.
We may not know how long a beautiful moment will last. We may not know where a relationship is going. We may not even have the right words to describe what connects two people.
Still, the heart knows.
It knows when a voice brings warmth – when someone’s presence makes silence comfortable – when an embrace makes the storm outside seem insignificant – when one person’s call can draw us across every distance. The poet simply acknowledges them. This is happiness.
Part 6 – The Absence of Happiness
When Absence Becomes the Only Emptiness
And then, almost without warning, the poem turns.
After showing us so many forms of happiness, the poet brings us to a single realization:
“Amidst everything that is mine,
it is your absence alone
that leaves me
bereft of happiness.”
The poet says, “amongst everything that is mine.” And yet something essential is missing – You are not there.
That absence creates a strange paradox. One can possess many things, still feel deprived. One can be surrounded by people, still experience loneliness. One can have an entire world, yet feel that something indispensable has disappeared from it.
Because sometimes, happiness is not determined by how much we have. It is determined by who is present.
The final line therefore does not feel like a complaint. It feels more like a quiet confession. The poet has spent the entire poem naming the little things that make her happy, only to discover that they all lead back to one person.
Without that presence, happiness itself seems incomplete.
And this is why the title – “The Absence of Happiness” – becomes so poignant at the end.
The poem does not begin with sadness. It begins with happiness.
It lets us experience happiness in its smallest and most tender forms. It allows us to see how a voice can awaken the heart, how closeness can exist without a name, how rain can become beautiful in an embrace, how one call can make the whole world disappear.
Only then does it reveal the other side of happiness: the emptiness left behind when the source of that happiness is absent.
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