Monday, 12 May 2014

Ride on the Crest of a Tide



                                                                           Ride on the Crest of the Tide        

By Neena Dighe:  Translated by Sushama Karnik

When I read on your face the pages of our life
I read in them an endless story of drunken glory.
We had, as if, set out riding on a tidal wave.
You and I, we were both lost ourselves.
It was only when we were rudely brought back to our senses,
We realized where we were heading for.
It was a frantic race all these years,
Without a memory of how many destinations we bypassed in this blind race.
What massive changes took place while we were busy running,
Busy reaching somewhere, and the goal was nowhere.
Our outlook changed; our values changed;
The language of our life changed, while we kept running.
And we never took note of the change.
Who are you, who am I?
Our identity changed; we are no longer the same.
There is still time to wake up and evaluate.
We were torn apart somewhere along the way.
Our tracks changed, our goalposts shifted.
We changed; our nation changed; its destiny no longer promised the land we had set out to search,  where we wanted to build a world of justice and sanity and equality for all.
And yet in this diversity, somewhere we were the same; we were one;
Unity in diversity: that is our identity.
Let us stop the forces that cleave us apart;
Let us say no to anarchy.
Let us stop looking to others for help;
Let us stop complaining and whining in vain;
Let us stop this backward rush into abyss.
Hatred has become a way of life;
Not a way of life, but a way to death;
Let’s say no to it.
Barbarity was not the badge we wanted to wear;
But we are wearing it proudly and openly as if that is our face and we are proud of our openness.
Once again, it’s time to stop and see where we are going.
It’s time to see the path we have travelled blindly;
It’s time to change the course.
Let us conquer the forces of regression and march ahead with no regret.
Let our children dive for pearls and throw them away lavishly
like wealth not to be owned by one, but  shared by all.
This earth is a dwelling–place of godly swans
Whose wings are for the heaven and the feet are for the treading of this earth.
Let us be one with tide and move with the world.


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