Cry of Draupadi*

Venomous vipers haunt me.
Stormy scorpions pervade me.
Lethal lizard lying before me.
Utter gloom, sheer horror.
Dark phobia, nasty despair in the atmosphere.
Like Draupadi cry I.
But no assistance from Gopala.
Only Dushashans and Duryodhans exist.
I am being disrobed.
I am being seduced.
My thighs violently pinched.
All are Dhritrashtras here.
No Bhim to consume Dushashan's blood.
Only Duryodhan, Dushashan, Shakuni
And Dhritrashtra surround me.
Alas! I am being defiled.
Kauravas laugh.
Dhritrashta's blindness has a method in it.
"She is very passionate.
She is a hungry whore.
She can satisfy all", says Dushashan.
Of course, she has satisfied all.
Scamsters, gangsters, brokers
Politicians, technicians and physicians.
All have touched her,
Slapped the fleshy organs,
Kissed the frail skin.
But, she is in tears.
Kohinoor is lost.
Past pristine glory can not be retrieved.
No national pride here.
No Gold in Olympic Games.
And no claim for the land occupied by the neighbour.

*According to classical epic Mahabharata, Pandavas and Kauravas were cousins. Draupadi was the wife of the Pandavas. The Pandavas lost Draupadi to the Kauravas in the gamble. The chief of the Kauravas were Duryodhana and Dushashan. They were supported by their maternal uncle Shakuni and blind father Dhritrashtra. When Draupadi was lost in the game of dice, Dushashan tried to disrobe her. At that time Lord Krishna, the Gopala protected her by providing her with an unending Sari (an Indian dress). Later on, one of the Pandavas drank the blood of Dushashan to avenge the humiliation of Draupadi. In this poem, mother India is represented as Draupadi; while corrupt scamsters, gangsters, brokers, politicians, technicians and physicians are just like the Kauravas.

Omnipresent Deodorized Dog-shit

O deodorized dog-shit!
You are all-pervasive.
O omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent power!
I eulogize your high tower.
Present in every aspect of human life.
Breath and finer spirit of all knowledge.
O, what a pantheism!
You are the supreme self.
Neti Neti!¹
Thus spake the Acharya.²
The disciple confused, perplexed and bewildered!
Anxiety engulfs him.
Curiosity continues.
He enquired and the Shruti³ tradition continued.
My limbs become languid
And my mouth becomes completely dry.⁴
Remove the dark mists of avidya.⁵
Spread the light of Vidya.⁶
Quench my inquisitive thirst, please !
How is dog –shit transcendental reality?
Touching Guru’s .⁷feet, the curious student asked-
For years I have crammed and crammed and crammed-
Supreme Reality is one.
Sang panegyrics in its deification.
So celestial was the temperament.
You have shattered His domain in one stoke.
What is it, Sir?
I don’t understand your polemics.
The Guru surprised.
The Guru wonderstruck.
The Guru said mildly,
“I like the perfect compound of doubt and faith I you”.
Of course deodorized dog-shit is all-pervasive.
It is present everywhere.
Where, where?
In the deodorants sprinkled in the dirty armpits.
In the lipsticks pasted on wrinkled lips.
In the dyed hair, polished nails, branded tops and tight trousers.
Something more,
Something more, Sir!
Everywhere is it present.
The smiling faces of the stony hearts.
The grave expressions of the casual.
The world is so dusty.
Vice paramount principle.
Primal sex dominant passion.
But, we like curtains.
Stinking dog-shit is deodorized.
We can not bear too much reality.
We are in illusion.
So Birthday wishes,
So marriage feasts,
So, funeral lamentations,
Though the heart as poisonous as the viper.
Hey! Come on, be ready!
Make the dog-shit as odorous as possible.
Let it be filthy and stinking.
Remove all curtains.
Break all masks.
Come out of your artificial self.
Eradicate all hypocrisy of civilization.
Let there be spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions.
Disrobe yourself
And feel the pulse of life emotionally,
As there is more enterprise in walking naked.

¹Neti Neti :A maxim of the Upanishads(holy texts of India), signifying the fact that the Supreme Reality is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent.
²Acharya :Teacher
³Shruti :As per ancient Indian system of teaching, knowledge should be transferred from the teacher to the taught through oral tradition. This is Shruti.Vedas were also called by this name.
⁴My limbs become languid
And my mouth becomes completely dry.
These two lines refer to Swami Gambhirananda’s translation of Bhagwadgita (1.28).
⁵avidya :Ignorance
⁶Vidya: Knowledge
⁷Guru: Teacher