Bruised, but not Broken (poems)
-Challapalli Swarooparani
35. Mother’s Sari Hem
Had it not been for the shelter
Of this ‘letter’, perhaps
I’d have been nowhere!
I can’t imagine
In which mid sea
This boat of life would have
Drowned!
For that matter,
Even the world
Would’ve stopped where it emerged!
It’s for this letter
That we grieved,
That we walked to distant shores
To seek its kinship.
The letter
An amazing speck of light that dispelled
The spiralling gloom around me
A hidden weapon under my sleeve,
That helped take on the enemy
And declared me a winner
Before the world!
My guiding angel
That clutched my finger
And walked me barefoot
On the milky-way!
This letter
Turned into a bronze axe,
Hacked at my shackles
And wove wings
Onto my flaccid shoulders!
Lovely, soothing
A bird of the sky that threw wide open
The doors of freedom’s world.
This letter
Washed my race, steeped in sludge
Gave it wisdom’s bath
And the gift of
A glowing humanness!
This adorable, lovable letter
Was the life element
That cuddled my soul
Lest I collapsed
And helped me stand erect.
A pious drop of this letter
Sprinkled ambrosia only earthy tongue
Parched for ages, famished
Fatigued, un-flowing!
This letter is the flag of self esteem
That flutters high
On top of my hut!
The moonlit signature
That laughs
On my mother’s forehead
Bereft of vermillion dot.
This letters the ship
That brought to our threshold
Islands of wisdom
From beyond the seven seas!
The letter knows
A tear’s bitter taste
Can smell it in human breath
Can hear voices, insistent, brusque.
The letter traversed the yawning chasm
That separates ‘noble’ society from ours
And pressed a kiss on my cheeks!
That was indeed
The exhilarating moment
When sky met earth!
The letter is my encouraging friend
That can wander with me, hand in hand
Through times of disturbance, of depression
I nestle in the shade of the letter
Wipe off my tears and re-emerge afresh.
Now I would cherish
Like to, tremendously
To display the grand array
Of my letters ― my disarming poems
To safeguard the desolate and destitute
The heckled and humiliated
Millions of my brothers and sisters!
Yes and oh yes, my letter is
My mother’s sari-hem
That wipes off uncontrollable hot tears
On the cheeks of the downtrodden,
Those eternal sufferers in
The monstrous hands of the arrogant high-born!!
(Telugu: “Amma cheera kongu”, translated by N.R. Tapaswi and published on Face Book Timeline of the author.)
*****
(To be continued-)
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.