Feminist Poems (6,7 &8)
Rao Veluri (rveluri@smtpgate.anl.gov)
Sun, 11 Aug 96 14:52:28 CST
Hello Friends:
I have been lazy. Some of my 'well-wishers' on Telusa wish that I remain
permanently lazy. When such highlevel discussions were going on in regard
to yati and praasa, avadhaanaMs and samasyaapooraNaMs, chandassu and music,
rhythm and rhyme, etc., the following poems might be very jarring! Like the
music(!) of Paul Robeson!' -- I mean, Paul Robeson screaming at the top of
his lungs in a 'well-orchestrated' classicists' concert!
Oops! Am I repeating what calaM has said over sixty years ago in his
preface to mahaaprasthaanaM?
Do 'men and women see the same landscape from contrasting vantage points?'
Do 'they(women) need a different voice, different words to express
different worlds?' These were some questions raised in Arlene Zide's
preface to the anthology of contemporary Indian women poets, "In their own
Voice," published by the Penguin Books (1993).
Now, let us see the following poems from the collection of "neeli
mEghaalu," published by swEcha pracuraNalu, Hyderabad(1993), and decide for
ourselves whether the perceptions are different between men and women.
The first poem is by aMjana, entitled 'amma - bomma.' She says that she was
happy that her her first two poems were published in 'neeli mEghaalu.'
amma - bomma
baalyaMlO
bommaku amma nayyanani saMtOshiM caanu
ippuDu --
ammanu nEnE! bommanoo nEnE!
The second poem is by sreemati s. ra~jiaa bEgum. Sorry! I have no other
information on this poet, excepting that the poem entitled ' alaagE
annaaru,' was published in aaMdhra jyOti of 12-25-1992.
alaagE annaaru
baalyaM lO
'cinna pillavi neekEM telusu koorcO!' annaaru
yavvanaM lO
'uDuku raktaM maMcee ceDoo teleedu koorcO!' annaaru
vRddhaapyaM lO
'musaldaanivi iMkEM cEstaavu koorcO! annaaru
avakaaSaM raanaMduku kOpaMgaa lEdu naaku
koorconi, koorconi baddhakaM vaccinaMdukE baadhagaa uMdi.
The last one, the piece-de-resistance, is by jayaprabha, first published in
aaMdhra jyOti, daily paper (5-31-1988). It is entitled 'paiTani
tagaleyyaali.'
paiTani tagaleyyaali
paiTa koMgunu coostE
naakeMdukO paativratyaM gurtu kostuMdi!
bujaalaniMci kiMdiki vElaaDE
gudi baMDalaa
adeppuDoo naa swEcchani haristoonE vuMtuMdi!
nannu
niTaarugaa nilava nivvaka
paiTa
naa guMDelapai tana aMcula cEtulaanci
nannu vaMga deeyaalani coostuMdi.
naaku alavaaTu lEni sigguni mapputuMdi
yEdO kaMgaaruni piTTalaa naa cuTToo tipputuMdi
nuvvu aaDadaani vaMToo hipnataiju cEstuMdi
nEnu manishinanna bhaavaanni naa cEta maripistuMdi
naa cEtulatO reMDu bujaalanee cuTTi
eeveDa mahaa pativrata sumaa aMToo repa repa laaDutuMdi
kaadaMToo aravaalanu kuMTaanu
kaanee goMtu pegaladu
daani muMdu nEneppuDoo
ODi pOtoonE vunnaTluMTuMdi
paiTa
oobilaa nannu guMjEstoo vuMTuMdi
paiTa
suDi gaalilaa nannu tOsEstoo vuMTuMdi
naameeda
taraala nuMcee mOpina
apaniMda paiTa!
nannu abalani cEsna
pitru swaMyapu adRsya hastaM paiTa!
dOpiDee saMskRti
naa vyaktitvaanni SavaM gaa cEsi
daani paina kappina tella duppaTee paiTa!
nEnu naDicE Savaanni kaakuMDaa vuMDaalaMTE
muMdugaa paiTani tagaleyyaali
paiTani tagaleyyaali!
I rest my, oops!, 'their' case.
Regards.
Venkateswara Rao Veluri