Sociologist and activist Abhay Xaxa has written this poem that I found deeply illuminating for many privileged folks like myself who work with Adivasi communities. Since the poem in English is not accessible to many of my Kannada-speaking colleagues & collaborators, with help from Latha Chilgod, we produced a crude Kannada translation of the poem. A dream to set it to tune in Kannada one day, perhaps with help from some of the amazing Adivasi musicians here in Chamarajanagar…one day….meanwhile, below is our Kannada translation and further down is the original in English that I believe was first published in Roundtable India.
Continue readingCategory Archives: Poetry
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Social embellish
Continue readingWhose son you are
Whose you’re not
Daughter not by any
Coupling double Xs
The neighbourhood, The house
the hand that rocked the cradle
the hand that didn’t
love that wasn’t
The unfair social embellish
Over one’s random gene bounty
For one brings luck
For another just muck
Pachelbel’s Canon in D
Thanks to GSK & ASM for sharing this with me.
More than a fantasy
Arrogance of benevolence
Continue readingHow often do you wonder
If your work is worthy at all?
If your work touches, cares and feels,
raises, improves…even transforms?
This thought torments, troubles & weighs
Pulls, weakens & preys
And rightly so…for what else
Can check the arrogance of benevolence
February 11, 2021