This is untouchable Sunitha,
the once-upon-a-time girl
you all forgot, speaking:
I address myself as untouchable because
in this land
just as there are untouchable hunger,
untouchable loot
there are untouchable (atma)hatyas*
and untouchable rapes too
You might be surprised
but I swear by my love for Yogishwar Reddy
that I am an untouchable suicide..!
Otherwise, I too
would have sizzled like something spicy from a tandoor
on the dining tables of parliament
instead of being buried behind the newspapers …!
Here, because education,
love and marriage too
smell and taste of caste
our Nirmala's death a few days ago
was also attributed to 'natural causes'
Talking about the recent issue of our Chanti:
as soon as she learnt a few letters,
the pantulamma**, afraid that her caste-less eyes
might shine forth with new knowledge,
demanded her tantalizing eyes
as gurudakshina
Do we need
to talk about the lowborn nurses in the hospitals?
She, with sleepless eyes lit with love
tends to tumours, day and night,
but instead of commending her
for being as self-less as Florence Nightingale
they creep into her 'sisterly' heart
as cancerous cells
Here, for loss of honour and life
we are, once in a while,
compensated in cash
But the surprising part is,
even after (murder) death
we don't get a fistful of honour;
moreover, we're subjected to
lance-like comments–
'who asked her to sleep around' or 'who asked her to die'–
that pierce our souls
and kill us again
Now tell me
in this land
are even murders and rapes
free of untouchability…?
(In memory of Sunitha)
My translation of the Telugu poem 'anTaraani atyaachaaram' by Challapalli Swarooparani (from the collection of poetry 'daLita kavitvam – 2'). Sunitha, in whose memory this poem was written, was a student of the University of Hyderabad (in the nineties) who had committed suicide. Nirmala and Chanti (not the victim's real name; 'chanTi' – or 'little one' in Telugu- is a term of affection used to address a child) refer to other Dalit victims of violence. Chanti, as far as I can remember, was a schoolgirl who was so badly beaten by her teacher that she lost an eye.
* (atma)hatya: hatya means murder in Telugu, while aatmahatya stands for suicide.
** pantulamma: female teacher (colloquial).