Triveni Journal

1927 | 11,233,916 words

Triveni is a journal dedicated to ancient Indian culture, history, philosophy, art, spirituality, music and all sorts of literature. Triveni was founded at Madras in 1927 and since that time various authors have donated their creativity in the form of articles, covering many aspects of public life....

My Fellow-Traveller

Janamanchi Venkatramiah (Translated from the original in Telugu by M. Visweswar Rao)

Late JANAMANCHI VENKATRAMIAH

[The original poem was written on 21-10-1921 recording the poet’s life experience of 1907–long long before there was any thinking in the country ofHarjan uplift or removal of untouchability.]

The sun was sinking in the West;
the evening clouds floated like
sand-dunes after a flood,
in colourful saffron hues,

For the traveller, soft were the sands
of Godavari under his feet;
the ripe corn waved its head in joy
at the touch of the eastern breeze.

Earth and heaven thus mingled in unison,
as I walked alone
to reach my destination not far off.

I heard the footsteps of a strange woman
behind me, her tender feet sinking
in the sands, her natural slow pace
made slower by the weight of the bundle on her head.

I queried her in kindly words,
“What is that heavy bundle on your head,
O maid? where do you come from
and to where do you go?”

And replied my way-side companion;
“From my parents’ village I come,
on way to my husband’s house
in younder village, sir,…..and you?”

“I go the same way, maid, step faster;
O your bundle retards your steps,
but the village should be reached
before dark.” I said.

“This bundle. sir, may retard my journey,
but without it I cannot subsist for a day,”
said the maid, and continued.

“My elder brother, simple soul, presented me
with a new saree with Kumkum; and,
in spite of my protests, made a bundle
of yellow corn, and put it on my head,

“Anyhow, as my house nears, this bundle
grows lighter; I will follow your footsteps
fast, sir, you can proceed with speed.”

The words of that maid, pure-souled,
more innocent than a child,
touched my ears tenderly
and pleased my heart.

When we reached the crossing of the river
before reaching the village
the boatman said as he saw us,
“Before the Brahmin gentleman crosses
to the other bank, the untouchable woman
should not enter the boat.”

“O boatswain, sir, I have to reach home
before it is dark and I am a helpless woman;
I beg you, pity me and take me first
to the other bank.”

The piteous outcry of that lowly woman
touched the depths of my heart,
and I said to the boatman:
“No harm should befall any one
because of me,”–and then I spoke:

“I, she and you drink the same sacred waters
of Mother Goutami;
Its very sight makes us pure, and
a dip in it gives us salvation.

“One born in the untouchable’s shed,
is that one untouchable to God?
Even an animal, is it unfit
for His love? Does not He embrace all like the air?

“While by the grace of one and the same God
we all have to get into the same ship
and cross the same ocean,
and reach the same shore,
why all these doubts now for us?

“Therefore hesitate not, O boatman,
let this woman get into the boat with me;
no harm thereby to anyone and no loss to me.”

Neither am I a follower of Dharma
like Dharmaja,
nor is this woman untouchable
as the dog that followed him;
and yet, the boat into which
both of us entered that evening
was verily that first step to Heaven
which they entered!
–Translated from the original in Telugu by M. Visweswar Rao

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