Images: some of the faces of the dead from the 1984 pogroms.
Poetry
A Tragic Verdict:
Cri de Coeur
A Poem by AJAY SHUKLA (In Hindi, translated into English by author)
उस साल नवम्बर के महीने में
दिल्ली की रूह में छिपी दरिंदगी
हैवानी नक्श लेकर सडकों पर
शूर सिंघों के क़त्ल-ऐ-आम में नहीं उतरी थी
वो तो बस एक हादसा था
It was the month of November that year
When savages hiding in Delhi’s soul, my dear
Turned into the devil himself
To walk the streets of Delhi not to kill the brave Sikhs
It was just a tragic incident
एक बरगद का पेड़ उस रात
आंधी के थपेड़ों से उलझ कर
हज़ारों मासूमों की ज़िन्दगी को
एक पल में ख़ाक में मिलाने को नहीं गिरा था
वो तो बस एक हादसा था
When that night a mighty banyan tree
After wrestling with the winds, you see
Did not fall to the ground
To bury thousands of innocents in the dust
Well it was just a tragic incident
बे-शक्ल कातिलों का हुजूम
आँखों से अंगारे उगलता
ऐसे अंगारे जो खून से बुझें
वो खून जो बहा था वो मेरा और तेरा कहाँ था?
वो तो बस एक हादसा था
Crowds of faceless murderers rise
Spewing fire from their fearsome eyes
Fire that could be doused only with blood
Wasn't the blood that was spilt, wasn't it yours or mine?
Well, it was just a tragic incident
गली में टायरों पे जलती लाश का धुंआ
रबड़ और जिस्म की बू वाला धुंआ
ऊपरवाले से इन्साफ की गुहार करता धुंआ
हमारी दौलतमंद कॉलोनी से कहीं नहीं उठा था
वो तो बस एक हादसा था
Fumes rose from the body burning on a tire
Fumes that smelled of rubber and flesh on fire
Fumes that rose to pray to the Lord for justice
Those fumes did not rise from my affluent colony
मोहल्ले में दीवारों को चीरती चीख
माओं, बेटियों, बीविओं की चीख
बिलखते बच्चों और बापों की चीख
मुझे तो सुनाई नहीं दी? शायद एक सपना था
वो तो बस एक हादसा था
Screams that pierced the walls of the houses
Screams of mothers, daughters and spouses
Screams of children and fathers too
I didn't hear those screams? Perhaps, a bad dream
Well, it was just a tragic incident
अंधे कानून का गूंगा फैसला
थकी आँखों से टपका वो आंसू
एक मुल्क के ज़मीर की मौत
यह सब क्या आज हुआ? मुझे तो इल्म ही न था
वो तो बस एक और हादसा था
Blind justice rendered a verdict so dumb
Tears dropped from her eyes too numb
A nation’s conscience died away
Did all this happen today?
I didn't even care to know
Well, it was just a tragic incident
[Ajay Shukla is Managing Director, McGraw-Hill Education, India. Earlier, he had headed the Indian Edition Division of Reader's Digest. He is a graduate from The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), and an MBA from the University of Delhi. He writes Hindi and Urdu poetry, and is trained in Indian classical vocal and Tabla music. He lives in New Delhi with his wife, daughter and son.]
May 2, 2013
Conversation about this article
1: Jeevan Singh (San Diego, California, USA), May 02, 2013, 10:57 AM.
Thank you, Ajay ji, for this heart-piercer.
2: Japneet Kaur (Belgium), May 02, 2013, 11:15 AM.
My Hindi is pretty weak ... but I still found the original very moving. And liked the English version as well. Thanks you, Shukla ji, for the touching words. Well put!
3: Nirmal Singh (Chandigarh, Punjab), May 02, 2013, 1:47 PM.
Brought tears to my eyes. So sad ... 1984 lives on ... in ignominy.
4: Amardeep Singh (Singapore), May 02, 2013, 7:42 PM.
Wile for the common man the faith in the Indian justice system has been punched hard with the acquittal of Sajjan Kumar, but the feelings expressed through Ajay's words give hope that there are many out there who care. Thanks much.
5: Harman Singh (California, USA), May 02, 2013, 8:27 PM.
Beautifully rendered ... tragic truth.
6: Harpal Singh (Sydney, Australia), May 02, 2013, 9:14 PM.
It takes a special soul to be able to look beyond caste/creed/religion and rise above the masses to see the one-ness. Only then one can feel the pain of others and be blessed to be able to word it so beautifully. Shukla ji, may your goodness rub off on others. Your sentiments prove the presence of some sanity (sparse though) amongst all the chaos. May there be more Ajay Shuklas like you, in order to slow India's slide downwards.
7: Somesh Jawarani (Delhi, India), May 03, 2013, 3:11 AM.
Dear Shukla ji, The poem is so touching and melancholic. You have given such a vivid and heart-rending description of yet another chapter in the tragedy. Love your words.
8: Tej Kohli (Cupertino, California, USA), May 03, 2013, 10:16 AM.
'Twas 29 years ago and your words bring the emotions rushing back.
9: Ajay Shukla (Delhi, India), May 03, 2013, 3:01 PM.
Dear readers: I am overwhelmed by your comments. As Sher Singh Veer ji said somewhere else on this website: "Sikhs can forgive but never forget" - a majority of Indians feel the same way. Some of my closest friends are Sikh and frankly I wouldn't mind being born a Sikh in my next birth. Waheguru ...
10: Ganesh Vaidyanathan (London, England), May 03, 2013, 5:57 PM.
Ajay, very moving words. As someone who lived through this shameful period in the history of India, I vividly remember those days and those that immediately followed ... entire neighbourhoods in West Delhi devoid of menfolk (for they had been wiped out), my loving Sikh neighbours who fled to Chandigarh fearing for their lives. As someone once said, "Those who forget the lessons of history are condemned to repeat them." We must never forget ... I, for one, never will.
11: G S Kanwal (Virginia, USA), May 03, 2013, 11:43 PM.
The naked dance of the devil. Guru Nanak had asked: "tain ki dard na aaya". Who can estimate the power of evil? It is engraved in the Sikh psyche as a modern day ghallughara (hlocaust) in the newly created, independent India. Following all the blood that Sikhs had voluntarily shed to win independence for India. I shall never forget our brotherly neighbors who, at risk to there lives, sheltered and saved innumerable others. To me that shines as the only ray of hope.
12: Balwant Singh (Wolverhampton, England), September 23, 2013, 8:04 AM.
"1984" is a watershed for Sikhs. We need to understand exactly who our enemies are and how we are going to diffuse them.