Dignity

At a recent workshop for south Indian Adivasi writers, Werner Soors (of Les Petit Roberts fame) wrote this poem rather spontaneously based on a brainstorm of potential themes of interest for writing. He set it to a blues rhythm on his Ukulele and even sang it but meanwhile the English text of the song of which a crude Kannada translation is ongoing.

I don’t need no handouts
I’m no beggar and no thief

Sometimes I feel truly fagged out
And I can find no relief

I’ve had enough of your oppression
I stand firmly on my feet

We claim justice and respect No more violence, no neglect But dignity

You took my gods, you took my space
Pushed me back in misery

You changed my customs, changed my face
Helplessness, dependency

I don’t take it any longer
I stand up and turn the sheet

We claim justice and respect No more violence, no neglect But dignity

Can’t you hear the winds of change
Once so feeble and so thin

Spreading from the mountain range
With a message of my kin

Loud and clear and without fear
We insist and we repeat

We claim justice and respect No more violence, no neglect But dignity

– Werner Soors (2023), South Indian Adivasi Writers Workshop, Chamarajanagar, India