TTV - Bird feed - a poem by Ismail

Long long ago, in a galaxy far far away, on a little world by name Sulekha.com, on a little land mass called The Coffeehouse, a bunch of expats used to gather and while away many an evening, exchanging tales of woe and wonder, of fun and frolic, of rhyme and rhythm. I was one of those expats. In a moment of mad inspiration, one day, I posted my own English rendition of a modern Telugu poem. That solitary drop grew into a steady trickle, the trickle into a stream. Thus was born the TTV - Thursday Telugu Verse, and it became a weekly phenomenon. It held court for over a year, every week summoning the faithful. I must thank Satya Prabhakar and Sangeeta Kshettry, the husband wife duo (and founders of Sulekha) who were patient and supportive all through. I must also thank the couple of dozen named and many more unnamed admirers and detractors who stood with me during that period and would not let me get comfortable.

Sulekha.com grew to become many things to many people. Alas, in this transformation, it lost those old Coffeehouse records. I almost forgot about it. As I went through my back up drive at home over the weekend, I stumbled upon this old treasure, and thought - why not share it with my blog readers? Why not, indeed?

So, ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, I present you the new and improved TTV - the Thursday Telugu Verse!

Every week, on Thursday I will present a modern Telugu poem and its English translation.

ఇస్మాయిల్ గారి పద్యం

గింజలు


Bird feed
  - Ismail
Those eyes hatched by sleep all night

Now pecked by dawn in the morn.

Prying open my little girl’s eyelids,

Two kajal-black birds fly around the room.

They alight on the shiny tender shoots of trees,

And on the sunbeams playing hide and seek.

And then, from somewhere

Colorful birds come flying.

They keep hopping excitedly,

Pecking at the bird feed.

Baby looks at the birds flown

Away, with a look forlorn.

She too wants to fly, but in stead,

Her wings would be bound,

And she'd be sent to school.

As soon as school is mentioned,

The two free-wheeling birds

Retreat in haste and

Hide under the lids.

Baby goes to school

Carrying a huge load of books.

The teacher tosses bird feed of letters

In front of her, to peck at.

a .. aa .. i .. ee .. u .. oo ..

How bland this feed is!

Ismail was one of the pre-eminent poets of late 20th century. He retired as a lecturer of philosophy and college principal in Kakinada. చెట్టు నా ఆదర్శం (Tree, my ideal), రాత్రి వచ్చిన రహస్యపు వాన (Secret rain last night), etc., are volumes of poetry published. He also published a compilation of literary essays in which he explained his poetic vision and discipline. A poet beyond the reach of any  " - isms", Ismail's poetry embraced life, world and the entire universe in all its diversity. It is rare to find a poet who defined his poetic stance with such clarity and stayed true to that spirit - this is remarkable during a time when every serious poet in Telugu attached himself/herself to some political ideology or the other. He rejected many proffered awards and titles. Brevity, simplicity and a certain fearlessness mark his poems. I think no other poet knew the music and rhythm of simple words like Ismail did. He passed away in 2003.

I hope you enjoyed it.
Comments welcome.