The Shadows
(Parchaeeyaan )

By Sahir Ludianavi

I.

Since long has the polemic of politics upheld
That the child growing into a young man is but fodder for the war
Since long have the rulers decreed
That poisonous weeds be sown in distant lands.

II.

Since long the dreamy eyes of young men stare into vacant spaces
Since long does unrequited love seek refuge
Since long, on the trampled royal roads
Life, like a maiden lost, lies destitute.

III.

Let us call upon the trampled souls to give their wounds a voice
Our secrets are not only ours
They belong to the entire world
Let this entire world henceforth be our confidant.

IV.

Let us tell these political gamblers
That we hate their ways of war and ruin
That a life draped in the colours of blood
Is repugnant to us.

V.

Declare that if killers now come this way
Each road shall turn narrower
Each waft of breeze shall turn viciously around
Each delicate branch of trees shall harden into veins of stone.

VI.

Arise and declare to all warmongers
That what we need are machines to work
It is not others’ land that we crave
We need ploughs to farm our own lands.

VII.

This is the land of Gautam and Nanak
No serpents shall lurk on these sacred lands
Our blood belongs of the generations to come
Swords shall not sprout from this.

VIII.

Declare that if even today we remain silent
This throbbing world shall cease to be
A world engulfed in atomic furies
Shall not last, nor shall the skies be.

IX

During the previous wars, only the homes and hearths were razed
But this time it will not be surprising if even our solitudes shall remain no more
During the previous wars, it was only human bodies that were lost
But this time it will not be surprising if even the shadows are forever gone.

Shadows of reflections begin to take shape in my mind.

(Translated by Bhupinder, May 31 1998) 

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