They heap husks
gather dung cakes
collect bundles of sticks and twigs
how much work they do,
these cows, these outsider-daughters.
Sharp stubble, hot pans
sharp-toothed blades
that hack through saag
needles—
as if everything had already learned
to live in their hands and feet.
That basin always balanced on her head
is like her husband’s cap,
a clerk in the army,
and makes her look like a ‘fighter.’
I have watched her dance
I have heard her sing
But uff— that weeping
like painted walls gone damp
who could bear to look?
Father, in your fields
I sometimes burst into dance
like a bubble of air
and for a moment I forget
that the fields are not ours
only an excuse to stay for a few days
we have lost the cases
for lack of money
the slippers have worn through
weeds have grown
father, in your fields
tractors will dance one day
father, in your fields.
Acknowledgements
Image credits: © Amrita Sher-Gill. Haldi Grinders (1940). Material: Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 76.5 cm × 102 cm. Image courtesy: National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi.
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Translator | Manvi Aggarwal
Manvi (she/they) is a writer and translator based in Delhi, and works across English, Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu. She is currently translating Jujhar (revolutionary) poetry from the late 1960s to 1980s post-Naxalbari movement in Punjab, and Punjabi Dalit, Feminist, and Progressive Literature. She writes fiction, essays, and poetry as well, and her writing and research focus on development and labour politics, caste, gender, people’s movements, and oral cultures— especially within South Asia. Her translations have previously appeared in Gulmohur Quarterly. [Source: Translator’s text]
Author | Lal Singh Dil
Lal Singh Dil (1943-2007) was one of the most well-known poets of the early 1960s to 1980s post-Naxalbari movement in Indian Punjab. Born in a Ramdasia Chamar Dalit family, Dil put himself through school by working as a daily-wage bricklayer and agricultural labourer, and began writing poetry as a student. He was arrested for his involvement with the Marxist-leninist movement in 1969, subjected to severe police torture, and remained in jail until 1971.
Upon his release, Dil migrated to Uttar Pradesh, deeply disillusioned by persistent casteism within the movement and a lack of support from friends and family. He returned in 1983, living in a Chamar Dalit ghetto and working at a tea stall, heavily addicted to alcohol, until his death in 2007.
Dil published three poetry collections— Satluj Di Hawa (Breeze from Satluj) in 1971, Bahut Saare Suraj (So Many Suns) in 1982, and Satthar (Harvest Sheaf) in 1997. His autobiography Dastaan and collected poetry volume Naaglok were published in 1998, and a long poem titled ‘Aaj Billa Phir Aaya’ (Billa Came Again Today) was published posthumously in 2009. [Source: Translator’s text]
