Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena
(We give below the English translation of Hindi poet Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena’s celebrated poem, Deshgaan (An Ode to the Nation), to commemorate his 36th death anniversary. Deshgaan was part of a poetry collection written between 1976 (when the Emergency was still on) and 1981. The political and moral concerns voiced in this four-decade-old poem are as relevant today if not more.)
An Ode to The Nation
What a country this is, what a country!
Of courts and clients there is no sign
Yet cases are made out all the time
Every heart is a stony mountain
every eye a river of brine
The human is mere topography
carved into the map of choice
What a country this is, what a country!
All are masters at conjuring
crops in the palm of the hand
But the palm itself is a pauper
wandering door to door
What a country this is, what a country!
Tree or human
It makes no difference
Raze them all to the ground
Yet the jungle is forever
What a country this is, what a country!
More the questions
less the answers
Even in a conscious state
the entire nation is unconscious
What a country this is, what a country!
Will people remain on the hook under the impression
the fault is not theirs, the hook is to blame
What a country this is, what a country!
