Parijat
Standing upon the termite-infested earth
all claims for my love for land
shall prove a boomeranging irony and exaggeration upon myself !
How shall I express
dissent upon myself for not aspiring for a piece of land
dissent for my aversions to set defining limits upon mother’s love?
That moment,
when yokes of a viscous day and colorful illusions
had snapped in their own circumstances,
in their own temporalities,
I certainly must have piled defeats upon defeats.
I often forget to cash chances
forget to accord them a meaning
and forget to lend them an recognition.
Better ask me not—
Living life away is not an arduous task
It’s not a hellacious history.
Translated by Raj Kumar Baral
[Parijat (1936-1993) is a writer of high repute. Born and brought up in Darjeeling of India, she moved to Nepal during her youthful days and stared writing. Influenced by Marxist and existentialist ideas, her writings deal with women’s psychology and the plight of the downtrodden. Besides many novels of repute including the world-famous Sirisko Phool, Mahattaheen and Salgika Balatkrit Aansu, she has written many stories and poems and a few songs.]