Does Republic Day Mean Anything?

What does Republic Day 

Mean to a young boy

Selling the tricolor to passers by?

On Republic day

Clutching  the bunch of flags

He stands on the pavement

In the dust and the heat

Freedom to him

Means more money

To make ends meet

Freedom from hunger

For him and his siblings

His family

So that there is hope

That they will sleep

That day on a full stomach

He as such leads

A free life

On the pavements

Where he studies

In the school

Called Pain and Strife

That teaches him

New tricks and lessons each day

That’s freedom for him

Freedom from the big, marbled school!

Near the pavement where he sells his wares

With the school bell his cries to customers many times go unheard

But does he have to freedom ,the right to enter that building

Even as the largest democracy in the world

Celebrated Republic day

Celebrated the rules, norms and laws

That govern and guide us to lead a free living

But what does it mean to the young seller

 Of this majestic tricolor?

Translation of Pratibha Saraph's Marathi Poem - Spaces in Between

A New Literary Journey...
Literary translations & that too poetry can be a real challenge and an opportunity.Challenge as the translation has to be literal yet convey the real feelings behind the poem in minimal words.It is an opportunity for Literature lovers ,students and readers to use their skills and magic around words to do the translation. My translation of award winning writer Pratibha Saraph's Marathi poem-Madhlya Jaget(Spaces in Between) explores the theme of loss, longing, love and much more ...
Thanks Pratibha for the opportunity!

Pratibha Saraph

Search ...of the Unknown

Known and Unknown

To go on the known path

And a few unknown ones

To reach the destination

And in the process

Know oneself

The hidden truths

The unknown mysteries

Of the mind

Unravel on the unknown paths

Even as you felt

The road was just passing by

Doing its everyday job..

Search

The Search for Truth

For getting to know the real you

To bring out the best in you

To use everything

That is within and outside

That is the first step

To the ladder of progress

To climb each step daily

To keep the progress on

Unwanted Things - Translated Marathi Poem ..

This is my first translation of a Marathi Poem and hopefully more to follow . I got a unique opportunity to translate this Marathi Poem on the plight on Farmers written by Physicist and Litterateur, Pratibha Saraph which won the first prize @ the State Agricultural Literary Festival ..

As we all celebrate the Harvest Festival this week in India( Jan 15, 2019 ) in some form or the other -Sankrant, Lohri, Bihu, Pongal .. lets spare some thought and time for the Farmers

नकोश्या गोष्टी

शेतक-यांचे जगणे कळणे इतके सोपे नाही,
आम्हा शहरातील माणसांना!

वातानुकूलित माॅलमधून येतो भाजीपाला,
गाडीतून फ्रिजपर्यंत.
तेव्हा त्यावर मातीचा अंशही नसतो.
तसंही चकचकीत, गुळगुळीत लादीवरुन चालणारे आम्ही,
नसतेच आम्हाला काही मातीशी घेणे-देणे!
पाऊस पडो वा ना पडो,
आमचे शाॅवर अखंड चालूच असतात.
अन्नधान्य महाग झाली तरी खाण्यापेक्षा जास्त वाया घालवणे चालूच असते.

फक्त....
शेतकरी जेव्हा लटकतो निष्पर्ण झाडावर दुष्काळग्रस्त होऊन वा पाण्यात बुडतो;
तेव्हा ती बातमी आम्ही पाहतो सोफ्यावर रेलून!
पण...... परत परत तीच बातमी दिसू लागते सर्व चॅनेल्सवर,
फेसबूक, ट्विटर, व्हाॅट्सअपवर नि वर्तमानपत्रातही,
तेव्हा मात्र चिडून आम्ही म्हणतो -
किती व्हायरल होतात नकोश्या गोष्टी!
इतकाच काय तो संबध असतो आमचा शेतकऱ्यांशी!

प्रतिभा सराफ

Unwanted Things

It is not easy to understand the life of the farmers for us city dwellers

Our vegetables and fruits come from the AC malls

Travel from the car to the fridge without a spec of  earth on it

We who walk on shiny, smooth floors

We as such have nothing to do with Mother Earth

With or without the rainfall

Our showers run forever

Even if the food prices increase

Don’t we continue wasting it?

Only when the farmer hangs on a leafless tree

Struck by famine or drowns himself

We watch this news lazing on our sofas

But.. when the new is repeated on all news channels

On Facebook, Twitter , WhatsApp

And even the newspapers

Then we get upset

And say “unwanted things “get viral these days

That’s the only relation we have with farmers

 Translated by Aparna Vishwasrao 

WALL..

Wall

There is a wall

Between all of us

Today

The wall of an unreal communication

Of virtual messages

And virtual wishes

Of long messages

Short of feelings

Bereft of the long chats

And hearty laughs

Of new ideas

And new ways

That come from the real world

Where there are no walls or doors

Only the openness  of the sea

And the vastness of the sky

But the unreal itself

Has become the real

And the wall has become

The norm

The Vulnerability

The Vulnerability

It’s a vulnerability

An expression

Captured in a weak moment

That requires all the strength

That you can gather

To express the unsaid

Even when it is known

Between the unsaid and the known

Is the daring do attitude

Of being both weak and strong

*on the vulnerability called love and life

The Retreat

“People look for retreats for themselves, in the country, by the coast, or in the hills . . . There is nowhere that a person can find a more peaceful and trouble-free retreat than in his own mind. . . . So constantly give yourself this retreat, and renew yourself.”

- MARCUS AURELIUS

Here's my poetic take on it...

A Retreat

To visit this retreat

Once in while

And be with

The thoughts that are freshly green

The free flowing stream

Of memories and ideas

Cleanse yourself

Of all toxins

In the crystal clear

Environment of this retreat

By shaking the old

By looking towards the future

By living in the present

That’s the wonderful

Retreat of the mind