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Mainstream, VOL 62 No 4 January 27, 2024
Poem: ‘The nation is not a map drawn on a piece of paper’ (1948) | Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena
Saturday 27 January 2024
#socialtags’Desh Kagaz Par Bana Naksha Nahin Hota’ (1948) by Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena
(Translation from Hindi by Ayesha Kidwai)
If one room in your houseis ablazeCan youjust go sleep in another one?If in one room of your house,corpses rot and decay,Then can youjust pray in another one?If yes,Then I have nothingto say to you.The nation is not a mapdrawn on a piece of paperso that even if an edge fraysthe remaining parts stay intact;and rivers, mountains, cities, villageshold fast to their placesunperturbed.If this is not your belief,Then I do not want to livewith you.In this world, there is nothing greater than a man’s lifeNot god.Not knowledge.Not elections.Any text written on a piece of papercan be tornAnd buried underthe seven folds of the earth.A judgmentthat stands bolstered by corpsesis blind.A reignthat flows from the barrel of a gunis the trade of assassins.If this is not your belief,then I no longerhave to bear with you,even for a minute.Remember:The murder of a childThe death of a womanThe gaping wounds on the bodyof a man rent by bullets,are the defeat of not one regimebut the whole nation.Such blood does not flowto soak into the earth.It rises to stain blackthe flags that flutter in the sky.The earth that bears the imprint of army jackbootson which corpses fallIf that earth does not become fireand course through your veins,Then understandthat you have turned into a wasteland.You have no right to even take a breath hereThis world is no longer for the likes of you.A last wordStraight up.Do not ever forgivea murderer.Be he your friendOr the stakeholder of religionOr the renowned chowkidarof your democracy.