'Salim, do chai'–
'In a moment saab'–
Salim of young, milky cheeks
carries hot chai glasses to your hands
with a smile–
— Salim doesn't think about reservations at all
'Arre Rabbani
Check
whether the Honda's got a flat tyre or needs air'–
Rabbani, who can remove a tube from inside a tyre
and check its life in a water tub,
can't think about reservations
despite his punctured life–
Akbar who sells 'Har Ek Maal'
without respite at the chowrasta*
becomes 'Har Ek Maal' himself
— Akbar hasn't heard of reservations
Ghouse who drives an hired auto
Khaja who sells jasmines
Silar who sells ice-creams
Abbu who sells bananas
Chand Miya who burns incense in shops on Fridays
Imran who cleans tables in restaurants
Salman who collects tickets in the cinema
Afzal who drives the 'National Permit' lorry
Hussein who stitches clothes
Mehboob who irons them
Pasha who lifts soil
Ali who sells crockery
Nazir who sells rat poison…
If they become educated
If there are reservations
Won't life change?
Won't the country improve?
Their forefathers weren't Jagirdars
Their fathers were never Nawabs
They're all sahibs**
Every meal's a struggle
Who eats biryani everyday?
It's no longer a question of ten children
Now Muslims face a drought of marriages
The home is filled with
Unmarried girls
Jobless boys
Abandoned wives…
The one who should go to school is going to work
The one who should go to work is going to the kabrastan+…
Our nation which kills
girls in the womb
is reluctant to yield
reservations to Muslims.
To serve you hot hot chai
To plug your punctured tyres
To sell ice-creams to your kids
Should gentle-hearted Muslims
remain coolies and servants?
Today
you're blocking reservations
Tomorrow come to our gallis++ for votes…
we'll circumcise you
only then will you become our people
and understand our lives
understand our sorrows–
Salaam–
My translation of Anwar's Telugu poem 'hissaa' (from his collection of poetry 'muThThi').
*chowrasta: traffic junction.
*sahibs: here, it refers to a term commonly used to identify Muslims in many regions of Andhra Pradesh.
+kabrastan: graveyard.
++gallis: or galis. streets, alleys, by-lanes or quarter.