A folk song from Kerala translated by Sreekala Sivasankaran
What kind of untouchability is this?
The untouchability of the lords!
Go away, go away
The stumbling block, go away
Go away, go away
Even Pakkanar* has to go away!
If the salt is sown,
Would it sprout?
And creep onto the fence?
Then, what is this untouchability?
The untouchability of the lords!
If the salt is sown…
If the salt is sown,
Would it sprout?
And creep on to the fence?
Go away, go away
The stumbling block, go away
Go away, go away
Even Pakkanar has to go away!
Is it possible to drink and bathe,
In the stream where fishes are?
And forget the water drunk?
Then, what is this untouchability?
The untouchability of the lords!
Is it possible?
Is it possible to drink and bathe,
In the stream where fishes are?
And forget the water drunk?
Go away, go away
The stumbling block, go away
Go away, go away
Even Pakkanar has to go away!
If the arrow is shot into the sky,
Would it pierce?
Then, what is this untouchability?
The untouchability of the lords!
If the arrow is shot…
If the arrow is shot into the sky,
Would it pierce?
Go away, go away
The stumbling block, go away
Go away, go away
Even Pakkanar has to go away!
Would it turn black,
If the outcaste touches?
Turn black or white?
White or red?
What kind of untouchability is this?
The untouchability of the lords!
Go away, go away
The stumbling block, go away.
*Pakkanar is one of the twelve children born of the union between a Brahman called Vararuchi and a Paraya Dalit woman, sometimes referred to as Panchami, in a popular legend of Kerala, “Parayi petta panthiru kulam” (The twelve clans born of a Parayi). According to the legend, these twelve children took up different professions and different caste identities under different circumstances and lived in different places. Pakkanar lived as a Paraya with his Paraya wife and children and though he visited his siblings on important family occasions, the caste rules and ritual distances were kept among them.
Image courtesy: Gautam Vegda.
~~~
Sreekala Sivasankaran is a poet, writer and translator based in Kottayam, Kerala.
