Dalita Naaniis
Gujarat
is an experiment
to see if a state would grow
when you sow blood
*
Ravana
is not a rakshasa
He’s a lover
who kisses ten times at once
*
Dalits
are a little lucky
there’s no Drona
in Ambedkar’s story
— Naren Bedide translates a few naaniis from N. P Kumar’s collection Dalita Naaniilu. More here. Interestingly enough, I thought the poet was a woman when I read these for the first time: firstly because I falsely assumed that a single voice ran through all of them and secondly because the naanii about Ravana that made me think twice about how Sita could possibly be the speaker. Of course, each naanii stands alone so I’m curious to read more translations from Kumar’s collection.
Notes
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