Peep into The Ocean’s Depths

M. Sridhar & Alladi Uma

Turn history’s pages
Don’t be startled or annoyed
In the lines of the world’s forehead
many bloody word-garlands
In the box-like heart of the earth
hidden endless tales of murder-offerings.
Consigned to ashes by the flames of attachment
countless hearts of even the great
Plots numberless of stately women
disrobed and taken in procession
Final closure of the splendours of past civilizations
indelible marks of human monstrosities
dreadful signs of humans hunting their likes
annihilated - traces - of intellectuals under dictatorships
Let even a ruined sculpture speak
Don’t put your head down in shame
Melancholic bridges of tragic songs in wasted lives
The cries of brave warriors sacrificed for rulers’ greed
Their old mothers’ calamitous moans
Eulogies by poets on pleasure-loving kings
Want to hear more? Don’t get lost in darkness
All these are troubles plaguing earth
Want to see more of earth’s travails?
Don’t get caught, keep at heart
Understand the essence of my lyrics
Unforgettable mental tortures of the self-respecting
At the altar of caste, creed and racist arrogance
the hungry sacrificed
Leaders who plunder under the pretext of protecting the country
Streams of blood drenching the earth.
When progress is not chased away by egotism,
When service finds its place amidst seats of power
When justice and righteousness are not lost in people
When distinction between the self and the other is destroyed
When slavery of the voiceless disappears
When terrible institutions are cremated
This very world will be a platform for equality
Brutality will not have a place then, humanity will flourish
Divinity will come closer home
Till then slogans of unity will remain mere magical spells
If the vessel is copper, how will it remain untarnished?

[Translation of Janaswamy Kodandarama Sastry’s “Kadaligarbhamloki Tongichoodu” from Mahassu by M. Sridhar and Alladi Uma.]