I have written somewhere that you may uproot us and drown us in water. But soon there will be no water left for you. You can steal our land, our water, but we will still fight and die for your future generations. Our struggles for water, forest and land are not ours alone, to the extent that none of us are separate from nature. Adivasi lives are lived in harmony with nature. We do not see ourselves as separate from it. In many of the poems that I write in Dehwali Bhili, I have tried to conserve the values of our people.
Our worldview, of Adivasi communities, can be a foundation for generations to come. You don’t have any other option but to return to that life, that world view, unless you are ready for a collective suicide.
पाव थोवलू जोमीन
पावुहुं,
मां पावुहुं, तुमुहूं नेंय होमज़ा
डोगळाल पिलुलु
आन कादूल बालुलु मतलब
तुमुहुँ खूब खुश हाय
सोवता पोंगल उज्वाळ किइन
जुगु उजवाडुल नाथ पोवावीन
तुमुहुँ नेंय होमज़ा
काय वेअहे पाँयु टीपाआ मोरुलु से?
आखरीप तुमुहुँ तोरती पुं श्रेष्ठ सर्जन हाय
तुमां श्रेष्ठता खूब मोड़ी होद
‘लेबोरेटरी’
तुमनहें इया जीव जंतु री काय?
चाळ पानुं से काय?
तुमां होपने वादलाम पोंगे बोणावूलु हाय
तुमुहुँ तोरती नाटकाले नाहा रिये
पावुहुं खोटो ता नेंय मनाने
तुमनहें "चंद्रमेन" आखूं ता
आखरीप तुमुहुँ चीडे ता नाहा पेन
उडुलु होपने हेअतेहे
तुमुहुँ लेखलें जे हाय
खेराखेर तुमुहुँ नेंय माना
पेन पावुहुं, आमाँ विगोर लेखलां खातुर
बोणे ता ओतो जोरुल की जाजा
पाग थोवां तोरती सोळी जाजा
पावुहुं,
मां पावुहुं, तुमुहूं नेंय होमज़ा
डोगळाल पिलुलु
आन कादूल बालुलु मतलब
तुमुहुँ खूब खुश हाय
सोवता पोंगल उज्वाळ किइन
जुगु उजवाडुल नाथ पोवावीन
तुमुहुँ नेंय होमज़ा
काय वेअहे पाँयु टीपाआ मोरुलु से?
आखरीप तुमुहुँ तोरती पुं श्रेष्ठ सर्जन हाय।
Land to rest our feet
Oh brother,
I don’t think you will understand
what it means to grind the stone
and burn the soil.
You are quite happy
to have your house well lit,
to rein the energy of this cosmos.
You won’t understand
what the death of a droplet means.
After all you are the finest creation of this earth –
this ‘laboratory’ is the biggest proof
of your greatness.
What have you got to do with these insects,
these trees and vegetation?
You dream of building a house in the sky.
You are no longer the dear son of Mother Earth.
I hope you are not offended, brother,
if I call you the ‘Moon Man’
No, you are no bird
but you dream of flying high, alright.
And why not, with such education!
You won’t listen to anyone
But, brother, just do this one thing
for us illiterates, if you can
just leave some land for us
to rest our feet, please.
O brother,
I don’t think you will understand
what it means to grind the stone
and burn the soil.
You are quite happy
to have your house well lit,
to rein the energy of this cosmos
You won’t understand
what the death of a droplet means.
After all you are the greatest creation of this earth.
Translated from Dehwali Bhili and Hindi by Pratishtha Pandya.
