As a child, when I bid adaab to him
saying 'Salaam-alei-kum mamu'
he blessed me wishing my words should come true,
Now when I expressed my wish to marry Haseena
this Muslim society,
which rejected my wish
like a flock of cotton
deriding me as a Dudekula
not understanding love..and affection,
drives me away
calling me a Kaafir;
In God's name,
Haseena pleaded,
as she stepped away
choosing to travel on a path of thorns
drawing away from me, forget me lover;
When God's witness itself
proved useless against the curse
of my Dudekula caste, unable to curse it,
I nurse memories soft as cotton,
which prick like thorns,
while I wander around in this desert
searching for an oasis.
My translation of the Telugu poem 'gawaah' written by Mohammed Akbar (from the collection of poetry 'alaava: muslim sanskrti kavitvam').
Tags: Mohammed Akbar