Broken Man- In search of homeland

Published by Panther's Paw Publication

Yogesh Maitreya: Poet -Translator-Publisher

Yogesh Maitreya is a poet and translator.Recently he has translated the first volume of ‘Ambedkerite Movement after Ambedkar ’ in English,authored by J.V.Pawar in Marathi. At present, he is doing Ph.D.from  Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

Farooq

Farooq, I never thought we would meet again

When there were wars fought between the religions

In that hastiness, while leaving our land

You gifted me a peacock feather  with your

Puerile hands

With great pride, I have kept it safely for years, decoratively

Over my heart

As if it were a medal I won for my bravery

For killing an enemy

Many days passed

A moustache covers my lips and

Then I realize:

It is human tendency

To find it difficult to let  go

It happened on one bleak evening

That I bought for you a magnifying glass

From the city’s black market

But it shattered against the black rock

Farooq, in the grandeur of your eyes

I see symptoms of cataract

We meet after  so long

But the world is still small and narrow minded

Engrossed in its aggression for wars

When we were small and naïve

Massacres took place between religions

Today, it happens within religions

After you left

We abandoned our shelter

Under the thorny wild barriers and

Sheltered under the peaceful,  cool

And densely shadows of the Bodhi tree

As a symbol of what should I gift you this

Magnifying glass?

Indeed, the hearts of people are not as grand as this glass

Should I touch your eyes

Your eyes that show the symptoms  of cataract

With my fingers that have grown wrinkles now?

I wish for this

Farooq, tell me something about the land you migrated to

Why do you smile at me ironically?

I know that my past experiences of this society

Are shared by you as well

Let’s go!

We’ll go to the habitation of a peacock and

Gather the feathers

For others

Translated by Yogesh Maitreya

The Birth of Mother

The mother

Whose son participated in massacre

Should not have been born

The mother

whose son made the atomic bomb

Should not have been born

The mother

whose son created difference among men

Should not have been born

The mother  of the Wright Brothers

Should be  born a thousand times

The mother  of the Marconi

Should be  born several times

Michael Faraday’s  mother   

Should take birth innumerable  times

Again and again

Should Edison’s mother  be born.

And make this beautiful world

A more beautiful place

For the next generation

Translated by Yogesh Maitreya

A dog is a dog

Dog is an animal tamed by man

Pet or stray

Man has to be inoculated

If he is bitten

By a Dog

If not,

Man barks, ejects saliva

And dies a gruesome death

Dog is an animal tamed by man

Translated By Yogesh Maitreya

Question

My boss abandoned his parents

He pets a dog at home

Takes good care of him

Even kisses him a lot

The dog is anxious though,

Why doesn’t my boss learn

Some honesty from me?

Translated by Yogesh Maitreya

Monologues of a ghost

I am dumb

I didn’t have a voice

I cannot speak

In any of the glib tongues

Of the world

Compassion drains

Through my eyes

But you selfish folks

Cannot see that

Cannot read

My sympathetic face

I do not have hands

To resist

I cannot even bark

But does that mean

You write 786 on my back

Before butchering me?

Translated by Yogesh Maitreya

Something like this

How beautiful it is

To imagine, superfluously

About the beautiful world

To drift into one’s imagination

Like a drunkard.

Walking up in the morning

In a state of hallucination

Wishing the welfare of all

Praying everyday

Praying over and over again

For the wretched

How easy it is

To refuse water from a well

To a human being

Translated by Yogesh Maitreya

Personal Interview

To  secure  some warmth,

You immolated Dalits.

To obtain some melted ghee

Bastis were burnt to ashes

How could you do this?

You left them run-down and deprived.

The new generation of victims

In questioning you

How could you commit such heinous acts

In the name of religion?

Who gives you a certificate of superiority?

You fled to England and America

Before you could be interrogated.

Translated by Yogesh Maitreya

Idiopathic

People are very stupid

They pluck beautiful flowers

Early in the morning

From trees and shrubs

As offerings to statues

Made of rock

Translated by Yogesh Maitreya

Personal Interview

Religion and Caste

Become the prime concern

In one’s personal interview

After I passed the written examination

My caliber and competence

Melted like a candle

Became thinner than water

A single wave

Turned the rock-solid fort

Into sand

Caste is like the flow of electricity

The wires are visible

But not the current

Translated by Yogesh Maitreya

A Worker at the Farm

I have one roof

A few necessary  things to live off

Children who are brilliant at studies

And a diligent wife.

In the morning

I go to the farm to work

By dusk, I return

Tired by the laborious work,

I sleep audaciously on the Godhadi

I see beautiful dreams

Of the world

I love this life so much

I’ve just got one

I live by the definition

Of a maverick dreamer

I do not commit suicide

Like a farmer.

Translated by Yogesh Maitreya

Life is Beautiful

Grandamma  Vasanti died

Amidst the chaos of the wedding

All the people

Helping out there

Came together

And said in a furtive voice

“For now, quietly cover her up

And keep her in the storeroom.

Well look into it

Once the wedding is done.”

Translated by Yogesh Maitreya

Chairman

Having listened to the routine appearing

Happy, exceedingly exciting speech

A broken brother

Posed a cactus-like question:

“Why are we so doomed?

Why the movement has suffered a setback?”

The moment I got to the answer

I pulled the pistol’s trigger.

And the mirror in front smashed to the ground

Making a shattering noise.

Translated by Yogesh Maitreya