The Infallible Doll

Refrain:
You may play with it,
You may knock it down,
But it just does not roll away.

It does not surrender in defeat to anyone,
And nor does not hang its head in shame,
No matter what.
This is how I'll always live, it laughs,
And stays laughing.
(refrain)

Be it a hovel or a palace,
The game doesn't cease.
It doesn't discriminate,
Between the young and the old.
Unaffected by both happiness and misery,
It just goes on swinging away.
(refrain)

Even as it is wracked by pain,
And wrung dry, the cane,
It yields sweet sugar.
Even as it is worn down to paste,
The sandalwood exudes its sweet perfume.
Even as it burns itself out,
The lamp brings light to the house,
The lamp brings light.
(refrain)

Everything lies in the hands of the puppeteer,
And His sleight-of-the-hand.
Embodying His mercy, I made (the doll) dance and play.
But if my hands were to stop,
Would that be the end of the doll ?
Would that be the end ?
(refrain)

It does not surrender in defeat to anyone,
And does not hang its head in shame,
No matter what.
This is how I'll always live, it laughs,
And stays laughing
(refrain)

This is a song written by Chi. Udayshankar, specifically for the Kannada movie Kasturi Nivasa, for which he also wrote the screen play.The picturization of this song shows the protagonist of the movie, Ravi Varma singing to a young child, the daughter of a friend.
To the child, Ravi seems to be singing about the doll with which she is playing, but the down-upon-luck Ravi is actually referring to himself, right through. You can read more about the movie at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasturi_Nivasa

I suddenly remembered this song while chatting with my friend Mitalee Verma, late last night. She was immediately keen on a translation of the song, and I thought that it would be an honor to translate such a fine song as this. My translation, I know, does not do adequate justice to the song, but I've tried my best. In my quest to get as accurate a translation as would be possible by me, I listened to the song over and over again, and it was hard not to get teary eyed. It moves me very much. My friend Mitalee, I dedicate this translation to you.