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Posts Tagged ‘Ponnala Balaiah’

Marks of identification

Friday, July 30th, 2010

Signs of burns on eyelids,

Marks from Jeedi* on eyebrows,

Traces of burns on temples,

A rupee coin sized brand on forehead,

A dot tika, pierced nose,

Welt on neck from being dragged;

A Jeedi line on throat,

Burn scars on stomach,

Namams** across the waist,

Circles lower down for jaundice;

Hardened calluses on sore palms,

Saraswati, moon ,

Names of loved ones,

Sisters' images on the hands;

Jeedi pits on the knees,

Toes broken on stony paths, loosened nails,

Legs pierced like sieves by thorns,

Corns on the feet,

Parched lips,

Lowered eyes,

A wrinkled face at thirty,

Tireless struggle for survival–

These are my marks of identification….

 

My translation of Ponnala Balaiah's Telugu poem 'AnavALLu' (from his collection of poetry 'egili vAranga').

* Jeedi: the fruit of the marking nut tree (used widely in Indian medicine).

** Namam: tilak. Here, it refers to linear branding marks again.

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