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Birthmark: a poem by a Telugu Muslim poet

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Birthmark: a poem by a Telugu Muslim poet Empty Birthmark: a poem by a Telugu Muslim poet

Post by charvaka Thu Apr 12, 2012 9:07 pm

I came across this translated poem while reading India after Gandhi. The translation is from this anthology, and the book I read only contains fragments of the translated poem. I haven't been able to locate the Telugu original, or even the full poem in English translation. Even in its fragments, I find it quite pithy. I hope I can find a book with Khadar Mohiuddin's writings in the original Telugu.

Birthmark
Khadar Mohiuddin

Long before I was born
My name was listed
Among the traitors.

My religion is a conspiracy
My prayer meetings are a conspiracy
My lying quiet is a conspiracy.

My attempting to wake up is a conspiracy
My desire to have friends is a conspiracy
My ignorance, my backwardness, a conspiracy.

It's no conspiracy
To make me a refugee
In the very country of my birth

It's no conspiracy
To poison the air I breathe
And the space I live in

It's certainly no conspiracy
To cut me to pieces
And then imagine an uncut Bharat.

Cricket matches weigh and measure my patriotism
Never mind my love for my motherland
What is important is how much I hate the other land!

If you have any information about the poet and / or where I can find his books, please let me know. Thanks!
charvaka
charvaka

Posts : 4347
Join date : 2011-04-28
Location : Berkeley, CA

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