~Sudarshan Shrestha~
Translation: Jayant Sharma
Lālè is not a person of great esteem
Or say– Lālè is not a human being at all.
Yet resembling somewhat human
His is fate least that of humans either.
Lālès of our land walk on both legs
Hands they also use to feed themselves
They wear clothes – they cry, smile and talk
And fret about their families.
Therefore, human look-alike Lālè –
Can’t be considered different than a human being.
Amicable and brisk Lālè – his is everything human.
Nonetheless
Lālè is a material – auctioned
Lālè is an object – bartered
Lālè is a property – mortgaged
Lālè is a merchandise – traded
So what exactly is this Lālè?
Human alike but never a human being –
Lālè transforms into anything.
Sometimes abducted for ransom
Sometimes pawned as quittance
Sometimes changed into a murder
Lālè – always keeps swinging between violence
A scapegoat – laid on for slaughter
His worth cheaper than a cucumber
However the shroud over his corpse
Looks rather expensive than Lālè himself.
Crushed by inflation, brushed by quandary
Lālè – standing confused at the crossroads
His living always seared gradually.
Threat it is at school all the time,
And fear travels along the roads yet again.
No one you find there to labor in the paddocks,
And terror awaits at the factories.
What have you to do in the office?
When unemployment prevails all over.
Even then, a balloon filled by air of assurance
And a tube – punctured by the state of affairs
Resembling exactly the human beings
Lālè is always frightened of the species same.
Everyday I collide – with Lālès on the streets
Amid Lālès, I myself am a Lālè.
When crime is treated as a responsibility
Impunity always has been birth rights here.
The treasurer – a thief
The guard protecting the treasury – also a thief
The one babbling virtues against theft – himself a thief.
Mute spectator Lālè – terrorized Lālè
Thief he is – whether he steals or not
Amongst the thieves – Lālè is automatically a thief.
Walking down the road, Lālè stumbles down
And the road starts walking over him.
Uncertain it is –
Of when hospitals open and close.
Who is to be relied upon –
When everything is so fickle.
Alas! When poor Lālè breaks down to cry
The onlookers still take it as his smirk!
Lālès with planned disappearance
Are found in America, Europe and Australia.
Some poor Lālès –
Flock down to Dubai and Saudi.
Feeble Lālès –
Wander off in India.
And almost dead-like Lālès –
Are exploded in villages.
While walking down the road,
Hither and thither – everywhere – Lālès collide.
The abducted Lālè from his house
The immolated Lālè in a torched bus
Hardly wiped off are the tears – of his sister’s rape
When forced he is to banish away.
Lālè – under the brunt of menace and murder
Looks similar from every isometric
So many Lālès – innumerous Lālès
Hither and thither – everywhere – you find Lālès and only Lālès.
Somewhere is a string of hope
Somewhere is a thread of trust
Somewhere is a lane of belief
I am converted into Lālè
And Lālè into me
Lālè and myself – myself and Lālè.
Else when Lālè’s life is in danger
My life, your life, our lives, everyone’s life
Also are in danger.
This threat can be overcome
Only by the end of impunity.
‘His are the bulls whose are batons’ –
Scoffs the irony of human rights.
What stuff is that justice?
Which creature is that equality?
If uncertainty is to have its home here
Lālè’s life is always bound to be in danger.
Original: लालेको ज्यान खतरामा by Sudarshan Shrestha
About Poet:
Though his main contribution lies in the field of drama and playwright, Shrestha has many poems, short stories, lyrical songs, critics and articles to his credit. A philosopher and scholar, his first published work was a play called भोको चुल्हो (Hungry Oven). Also a script writer in Nepali movie industry, he is best known as a literary journalist and an avid researcher of arts, culture and literature. He has edited, compiled and written almost a dozen of books and has received many admiration and awards for his works.
(Source : Translator’s Facebook)
