She's breaking stones ( Woh todti patthar )

A translation of  "Woh todti patthar" by Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala'.

Original (transliteration): Woh todti patthar

An English lit translation: She's breaking stones

Woh todti patthar; dekha meine usey ilahabad ke path par - woh todti patthar. Koi na chayadar ped who jiske talay behthi hui sweekar; shyam tan, bhar bandha youvan, nat nayan, priy-karm-rat man, guru hathoda hath, karti baar baar prahar  - samne taru-malika attalika, prakaar. Chad rahi thi dhoop; garmiyon ke din, diva ka tamtamata roop; uthi jhulsati hui loo, rui jaise jalti hui bhu, gard chingi cha gayi, prai hui dopahar - woh todti patthar. Dekhte dekha mujhe to ek baar us bhavan ki our dekha, chinntaar; dekhkar koi nahi, dekha mujhe us drishti se, jo maar kha roi nahi, saja sahaj sitar, suni maine who nahi jo thi suni jhankar Ek kshan ke baad woh knapi sughar, dhulak mathe se giray sikar, lean hote karm me phir jyon kaha - "mein todti pattar".

She's breaking stones; on a street in Illahabad, I saw her once - she's breaking stones. Not a shade tree under which she could sit unafraid; dark skinned, youth aburst, eyes lowered,  in her dear work immersed, wielding a huge hammer, again and again, she hits  - in front, a tree-lined mansion, full of glitz. The sun climbing in the sky; it was a summer's day, scorching and dry; the blistering loo, burning the land as it blew, ember cinder flew about her, it was almost two - she's breaking stones. She saw me giving her a glance, she looked at the house, askance; seeing there not a soul, she gave me a look of one beaten but not cried at all, as if in a trance, I heard the unheard music of the glance. A moment later, a stunning shiver, From her bent head fell drops of sweat, lost again in her work, she suddenly said: "I'm breaking stones".