Artwork by Chitra Pritam. Courtesy of Art Chowk Gallery
Na tha kuchh to khuda tha,                         When there was nothing there was God,       Â
kuchch na hota to khuda hota, Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â if there’d been nothing there’d have been God,
Duboya mujhko hone ne, Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Being has ruined me,
na hota main to kya hota? Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â if I did not exist what would have been?
Â
Months of journey
                       on bullock-cart, palki, boattonga, ekka and whatnot
                   Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow,Allahabad, Banaras, Banda,
                    Patna, Murshidabad,finally Calcutta, then endless wait
‘double my paltry pension of rupees sixty two’
I returned to Shahjahanabad                                        scorned, derided
my family debt-ridden
                                  my dignity robbedmy brother died in my arms
                         none of my sons survived                                     I turned into a stone wrapped in human skinthen came the worst
                        the massacre of Delhi                                        my friends were butcheredI alone survived
                         to take down their corpses hanging                                                  from the trees, the lamp-poststo usher them into their graves
                          to lament my destiny.~ Abhay K.
Abhay K. (Abhay Kumar) is an Indian poet. Winner of the SAARC Literary Award 2013, he is the author of five collections of poems and two memoirs. His forthcoming collection of poems ‘Seduction of Delhi’ has received widespread critical acclaim.Â
