Golden jubilee
Basudev Sunani
Translated by Sailen Routray
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| Indian tightrope girl performing folk art Baunsa Rani Photo credit: commons.wikimedia/org/Manir Dhabak |
A solid-looking oil painting,
that can be hung in the lounge.
Nehru, Subash, Patel,
words full of cobwebs.
The best use to which they can be put
is to name streets.
The struggle for freedom –
the song of a cheap Hindi movie,
that became a minor hit for a while.
Citizens of an independent country –
a touring drama troupe,
with marginally competent dancers and musicians.
In the troupe,
it is the musicians who can run the roost.
They can kick the dancers at will
and the dancers themselves do not know,
since when have they been dancing.
that can be hung in the lounge.
words full of cobwebs.
The best use to which they can be put
is to name streets.
the song of a cheap Hindi movie,
that became a minor hit for a while.
a touring drama troupe,
with marginally competent dancers and musicians.
it is the musicians who can run the roost.
They can kick the dancers at will
and the dancers themselves do not know,
since when have they been dancing.
Translator's Note: Basudev Sunani (b. 1962) is one of the foremost poetic voices of his generation in Odia literature. He also has a body of prose in the form of novels, academic monographs and essays in the language.
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