Bruised, but not Broken (poems) – 6. Untouchable Assault

Bruised, but not Broken (poems)

-Challapalli Swarooparani 

6. Untouchable Assault

This is ‘untouchable Sunitha’ speaking:
From long ago ―
Forgotten by you all
In this country, just as there is ―
untouchable hunger
untouchable exploitation,
untouchable suicides
untouchable rape too exists.

I swear by my love for Yogeswar Reddy
That mine is certainly an
Untouchable suicide…!
Otherwise I too would have
spluttered on the dining tables of parliament,
A freshly flavoured tandoori something
Instead of being buried in newsprint!

Since education, love, marriage
All carry the
colour, flavour and taste of caste
our Nirmala’s death the other day
was pronounced a ‘natural death’.

The other day, as the child Chanti
learnt her alphabets in school
Apprehensive that her low-caste eyes
might glow, enlightened
The teacher demanded then
her Guru-dakshina.

As for the low-born nurses in hospitals ―
who serve all night ―
Compassionate, as they
tend cancerous tumours ―
They spare her no praise
She is no ‘Florence Nightingale’ to them
Rather, their words
Like cancer cells
Eat their way into sisterly hearts.

Here, occasionally
For loss of honour and life
We are paid compensation.

Strange that even after we’re murdered
No respect for us, not even a fistful
Only piercing invectives:
“Who asked them to flirt?”
“Who asked them to die?”
They torment our conscience
And kill us
Once again.

Now tell me, in this country
Are there
Or are there not
Untouchable murders and rapes?

[In memory of Sunitha]

(Telugu: “Antarani Atyaacharam”, translated by T.S. Chandra Mouli and published in Mankenapoovu, an anthology of poems by the author, 2005.)

*****

(To be continued-)

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Challapalli Swaroopa Rani

Challapalli Swaroopa Rani hails from a village, Pyaparru, Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh. She is one of the five daughters of Mariyamma and Mantraiah. Went to Govt school in her place, completed her college at Guntur, the District head quarters. Then shifted to Hyderabad Central University and involved in student politics as a founder member of Ambedkar Student’s Association. She had her master’s in History & Archaeology, M.Phil in Medieval History and Ph. D in Regional Studies. Swaroopa has obtained Gold Medal in her Masters Examinations. She has got her first recruitment as Asst. Professor in History at Potti Sriramulu Telugu University, Srisailam and got selected as Associate Professor in Buddhist Studies in Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur. She lives in Vijayawada. Presently she is a Professor of Buddhist Studies and Director, Center for Women’s Studies in the same University. She is specialized in studies on Buddhism, Caste, Religion, Gender, Tribal Studies, People’s Culture and Literature.

Swaroopa Rani is poet, story writer, columnist and free lance Journalist. She is known activist and writer. She has started writing poetry during her college days on general aspects and shifted to write political issues of Dalits, Adivasis and Women. Swaroopa has published four books on theory(English and Telugu) and two anthologies(Telugu) and almost 100 articles in different journals. She has organized ten National and International Conferences and attended more than 100 seminars and conferences.  Swaroopa’s poetry is well received by the readers and her poetry is included in many collections and got translated into English, Hindi, Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. Academic research is being carried on her works and her poetry is prescribed in curriculum at Graduation and Post-Graduation level.