Feminists' Poems -2 (saavitri)
Veluri, Rao (rveluri@SMTPGATE.ANL.GOV)
Fri, 05 Apr 96 18:03:47 CST
saavitri: 1949 - 1991:: Had she lived longer, she would have written
more, and certainly more brilliant poetry. saavitri was born into a
highly feudalistic family, married off into a more feudalistic and
cruel family! During her short but very productive lifetime, she
fought and fought against male chauvinism. She wrote about two dozen
poems, a few essays and came to be known as 'radio saavitri' for her
talks on the AIR. She died of tuberculosis, and after her death,
a few of her friends brought out a volume('saavitri') of her writings,
under the editorship of aranyakrishna, in 1992.
Some critics recognize(rightly so!) that her poem 'baMdipOTlu,'
written in 1984 became an early and positive catalyst for the
current upsurge of feminist poetry. baMdipOtlu was translated into
english by C. Rama Rao and Arlene Zide as 'Dacoits' and was published
in "In their Own Voice," the Penguin Anthology of Contemporary Indian
Women Poets (1993), edited by Arlene K. Zide. I will give both the
original and the translation below.
Prof.Chekoori Rama Rao publicized this poem, read it at several
university meets, reviewed it, and wrote an appreciation of it! He
even included it as a must-read for B. A. Telugu candidates!!
baMdipOtlu
paaThaM oppaceppaka pOtE peLLi cEstaanani
paMtulu-gaarannappudE BhayamEsiMdi
aafeesulO naa moguDunnaaDu!
avasara-moccinaa selavivvaDani
annayya annappuDE anumaana-MEsiMdi
vaaDikEM maga-mahaaraajani
aaDaa mogaa vaaginappuDE arthamai pOyiMdi
peLLaMTE pedda Siksha ani
moguDaMTE swEccaa BhakshakuDani
mEM paalicci peMcina janaMlO sagamE
mammalni viBajiMci paalistOMdani!
-- March 23, 1984
aandhra jyOti vaara patrika
Dacoits
When the teacher said:
I'll get you married off
if you don't recite the lesson
I was afraid.
When my brother said:
My 'husband' is my boss
who never grants me leave
even when I need it most
I grew suspicious.
When the neighbours said:
But, he's a man, a'maharaja'
so what could he be missing?
I understood.
That marriage is a huge punishment,
that a husband gobbles up your freedom,
and that half the population
that we nourished at the breast
divides
and rules.
-- Translated by C. Rama Rao & Arlene Zide.
My two shekels worth:
shekel one:
The original, in my opinion, is much more powerful
than the translation!
shekel two:
Sometime later, I will post another feminist poem,
and the english translation, where the translation,
again, in my opinion, is equally powerful, if not more!
BTW, I have very strong opinions!!
Have a very productive Easter!
Regards.
-- Venkateswara Rao Veluri
into feudalistic