These two poems written by Pramodkumar Anerao were translated from Marathi by Paromita Goswami. Both are included in his anthology Kahi Sangtach Yet Nahi (2021). Pramodkumar Anerao writes on contemporary themes of alienation and uncertainties of modern life. He is also an avid illustrator and has designed several book covers. He contributes regularly to newspapers and magazines.
I
Sufficient
(Purese)
Insufficient evidence
Hence case dismissed.
Murderers roam the streets in sufficient numbers, sufficiently scot-free
To commit sufficiently heinous crimes.
Killers of sufficient repute luxuriate
Sufficiently ensconced within their sufficiently set-up system.
The bodies inflamed with the pox-sores of insufficiency
Belong to us, of course.
The day is insufficiently bright.
The night can barely be called night
The cupped palms of the new moon carry insufficient darkness
The face of the full moon lacks sufficient lustre,
The sails lack sufficient winds to reach the harbour
The directions hesitate without sufficient confidence.
The rivers bear insufficient water
The trees lack sufficient wood
Even the shadows fall short of height
The storm never rages enough to uproot.
The voice is barely sufficient to express the depths of soul
The words never sufficient to express the meanings.
Neither is adequate justice indexed under ‘justice’
Nor sufficient injustice under ‘injustice’.
Neither enough breath survives to prove existence of life
Nor enough intuition to prove an imaginative space
Not enough life remains and yet not sufficiently dead.
Imperfect memories in memorials, insufficient wood in pyres.
The glare of politics does not have the required power
Enlightenment does not bring the required light.
Insufficient streams flow into rivers
Insufficient ideas flow into ideals.
Nothing is sufficiently complete, neither here nor there.
We all remain in a state of lacking
Somewhat living in a deficient world
Like a mechanical toy or puppet
We remain sufficiently insufficient.
II
Unreal Reality
(Kiti Vichitra Ahe He …)
How strange, unreal is this reality
Tentacles of cities strangulate forests
Piped rivers carry sludge of pleasant drudgery,
Trees snatch away shadows
From underneath shade seekers.
Markets display glittering wares
Whose costs reach the sky
Except men – those still come cheap.
We forget what remains in our hands
And chase mindlessly after whatever absconds,
Stray beasts block roads.
Unnerving shrieks deliver mantras of peace
When will this strangeness ever cease?
The sparrows have disappeared
Nightingales choke on their songs
Chimneys multiply to belch out smoke everywhere
Pigeons flutter in the town square
What ghastly unreal reality is this!
Shadows extend to engulf men
All of a sudden.
– Translated by Paromita Goswami
– Illustrations by Pramodkumar Anerao
