forkedtongues | poetry by Paash

Paash was an Indian revolutionary poet of the 70's who wrote mainly in Punjabi. I haven't been able to find the Punjabi originals anywhere online yet, but here are the Hindi and English translations of one of his poems that I've always been in awe of.

अपनी असुरक्षा से

यदि देश की सुरक्षा यही होती है
कि बिना जमीर होना जिंदगी के लिए शर्त बन जाये
आंख की पुतली में हां के सिवाय कोई भी शब्द
अश्लील हो
और मन बदकार पलों के सामने दंडवत झुका रहे
तो हमें देश की सुरक्षा से खतरा है.

हम तो देश को समझे थे घर-जैसी पवित्र चीज
जिसमें उमस नहीं होती
आदमी बरसते मेंह की गूंज की तरह गलियों में बहता है
गेहूं की बालियों की तरह खेतों में झूमता है
और आसमान की विशालता को अर्थ देता है
हम तो देश को समझे थे आलिंगन-जैसे एक एहसास का नाम
हम तो देश को समझते थे काम-जैसा कोई नशा
हम तो देश को समझते थे कुरबानी-सी वफा
लेकिन गर देश
आत्मा की बेगार का कोई कारखाना है
गर देश उल्लू बनने की प्रयोगशाला है
तो हमें उससे खतरा है

गर देश का अमन ऐसा होता है
कि कर्ज के पहाड़ों से फिसलते पत्थरों की तरह
टूटता रहे अस्तित्व हमारा

और तनख्वाहों के मुंह पर थूकती रहे
कीमतों की बेशर्म हंसी
कि अपने रक्त में नहाना ही तीर्थ का पुण्य हो
तो हमें अमन से खतरा है

गर देश की सुरक्षा को कुचल कर अमन को रंग चढ़ेगा
कि वीरता बस सरहदों पर मर कर परवान चढ़ेगी
कला का फूल बस राजा की खिड़की में ही खिलेगा
अक्ल, हुक्म के कुएं पर रहट की तरह ही धरती सींचेगी
तो हमें देश की सुरक्षा से खतरा है.
(from here)

Transliterated:
Apni Asuraksha Se

Yadi desh ki suraksha yahi hoti hai
ke bina zameer hona zindagi ke liye shart ban jaye
aankh ki putli mein haan ke sivaye koi bhi shabd ashleel ho
aur mann badkar palon ke saamne dandvat jhuka rahe
toh humein desh ki suraksha se khatra hai.

hum toh desh ko samjhe the ghar-jaisi pavitr cheez
jisme umas nahi hoti
aadmi baraste meh ki goonj ki tarah galiyon mein behta hei
gehun ki baaliyon ki tarah kheton mein jhoomta hai
aur aasmaan ki vishaalta ko arth deta hai
hum toh desh ko samjhe the aalingan-jaise ek ehsaas ka naam
hum toh desh ko samjhe the kaam-jaisa koi nasha
hum toh desh ko samjhe the qurbaani-si wafa
lekin gar desh
aatma ki begaar ka koi karkhaana hai
gar desh ullu banne ki prayogshala hai
toh humein usse khatra hai.

gar desh ka aman aisa hota hai
ki karz ke pahaadon se fisalte paththaron ki tarah
toot-ta rahe astitv humara

aur tankhvaaon ke moonh par thhookti rahein
keematon ki besharm hansi
ki apne rakt mein nahaana hi teerth ka puny ho
toh humein aman se khatra hai

gar desh ki suraksha ko kuchal kar aman ko rang chadhega
ki veerta bas sarhadon par mar kar parvaan chadhegi
kala ka phool bas rajah ki khidki mein hi khilega
akl, hukm ke kuen par rahat ki tarah hi dharti seenchegi
toh humein desh ki suraksha se khatra hai.

Out of One’s Insecurity
(Apni Asurakhya Chon)

If the country’s security means
that one must murder conscience
as a precondition to live
that every word other than ‘yes’ looking out of your eye
must seem indecent
that the mind must bow in humiliating submission
to a depraved time --
we then stand in danger of the country’s security

We had thought the country to be something sacred
like one’s home,
free from any sultriness,
a place
where man moves like the sound of falling rain in streets,
where he sways like stalks of wheat in fields
and grants meaning
to the magnanimous vastness of the skies

We had thought the country to be some experience
like an embrace

We had thought the country to be some intoxication
like work

But if the country is a factory
for exploitation of the soul
if it is a laboratory
to produce morons --
we then stand in danger of this country

If the peace of the country only means
that we should break and crumble
like stones rolling down mountains
that the unashamed laughter of prices should for ever spit
on the face of earnings
that bathing in one’s own blood should be
the only holy virtue earned --
we then stand in danger of the peace

If the country’s security means
that strikes must be crushed to dye the peace in deeper hues
that the only martyrdom should be the one attained on borders
that the only art should be which blossoms on the ruler’s windowpane
that the only wisdom should be which waters the land from the authority’s well
that the only labour should be which sweeps the floors of royal palaces --
we stand then in danger of the country’s peace.

(Translated by Rajesh Kumar Sharma, found here.)

This poem feels particularly burning and relevant to me as an Indian right now, as the government is getting ready to launch 'Operation Green Hunt', a massive military operation against Maoist rebels in Central India (read link for more). It is a horrifying, sickening thought, the thought of a state mobilising its coercive might against it's own people, and it's very obvious motivations behind it.

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FUCKING A, man.
(If you can, provide a transliteration for

yasaman!) Also, should we tag this Punjabi too, since that's what the original is in?)

Done the transliteration :)
I was thinking I'd put in the Punjabi tag, when the original came through for posting? Whatsay?

Sounds good. God, I am having to ration out this poetry, its too potent.

Oof, I know. It's a punch to the gut, everytime.

तुम यह सभी कुछ भूल जाना मेरी दोस्त
सिवाय इसके
कि मुझे जीने की बहुत लालसा थी
कि मैं गले तक ज़िंदगी में डूबना चाहता था.
मेरे हिस्से का जी लेना मेरी दोस्त
मेरे हिस्से का जी लेना.

(For everyone else...)
Tum yeh sabhi kuch bhool jana meri dost
sivay iske
ki mujhe jeene ki bahut lalsa thi
ki mein gale tak zindagi mein doobna chahta tha
mere hisse ka jee lena meri dost
mere hisse ka jee lena.

Forget everything else, my friend
Except this
That I had a great thirst for living
That I wanted to drown neck-deep into life.
Live my share of life, my friend
Live my share of life.

The community doesn't seem to have clear tagging rules in that regard. I also wasn't sure how to tag the Wang Wei post, because I didn't know if I should tag it with French and Spanish. It seems Anglocentric to call out the languages of the translations only if they're not English translations.

I went ahead and tagged your post with French and Spanish, because I think the point of the comm is to highlight anglocentrism. All translations are not equal, and the idea is to build connections between people understanding languages other than English, even as we use English to build those connections.

But I am open to a discussion about the tagging system! Its a nascent comm, and I admit that I have not set any clear rules or guidelines for it yet.

Just thinking aloud, I'm wondering if it might be an interesting thing if we tagged all English translations, too, to openly acknowledge the default.

Sometime down the road I would like to do a post about Hofstadter's analysis of the French and German translations of "Jabberwocky" (originally an English language poem), and it doesn't feel like it would sit comfortably in this community's present tagging system.

All translations are not equal

I'm not sure what you mean by that. I acknowledge it in the sense that some translations are better done than others, but I'm not at all clear on what you're trying to say about how a French translation is or isn't privileged over an English translation.

What I meant about all translations not being equal is that some are closer to home than others. For instance the poem in this post is written in Punjabi, but is presented here in Hindi, which has a different script from Punjabi, but is close enough in vocabulary that it is closer to transliteration than translation. Or a translation from Bengali to Hindi, for instance, has enough similar grammer and idiom that it is very different from even the most faithful Bengali to English translation. I suspect the same is true of most languages with common roots.

I have changed the tagging system to reflect script, transliteration, and translation - so now 'translation: english' and 'transliteration: english' are both available for use. Does that suit?

Yes, I like the new tagging system. :)

Wow, "We then stand in danger of the peace" really packs a wallop, doesn't it?

This is a beautiful poem with a powerful message.
I think my favorite lines are "that the unashamed laughter of prices should for ever spit/ on the face of earnings", "If the country’s security means/ that one must murder conscience", and to contrast these, the poignant "We had thought the country to be some experience/ like an embrace".
I feel that a lot of it happens to be relevant to the Philippines as well. For instance, "But if the country is a factory/ for exploitation of the soul/ if it is a laboratory/ to produce morons" echoes a lot of people's concern over the fact that we're the other major place for outsourcing call centers. ;)

Thanks also for the links and info on current events in India, I had no idea that that kind of conflict was going on there. Those "obvious motivations" are indeed terrible. :/

poetry by Paash

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