Challapalli Swarooparani<\/p>\n
This is untouchable Sunitha,<\/p>\n
the once-upon-a-time girl<\/p>\n
you all forgot, speaking:<\/p>\n
I address myself as untouchable because<\/p>\n
in this land<\/p>\n
just as there are untouchable hunger,\u00a0untouchable loot<\/p>\n
there are untouchable (atma) hatyas*<\/p>\n
and untouchable rapes too<\/p>\n
You might be surprised<\/p>\n
but I swear by my love for Yogishwar Reddy<\/p>\n
that I am an untouchable suicide..!<\/p>\n
Otherwise, I too<\/p>\n
would have sizzled like something spicy from a tandoor<\/p>\n
on the dining tables of parliament<\/p>\n
instead of being buried behind the newspapers \u2026!<\/p>\n
Here, because education,<\/p>\n
love and marriage too<\/p>\n
smell and taste of caste<\/p>\n
our Nirmala’s death a few days ago<\/p>\n
was also attributed to ‘natural causes’<\/p>\n
Talking about the recent issue of our Chanti:<\/p>\n
as soon as she learnt a few letters,<\/p>\n
the pantulamma**, afraid that her caste-less eyes<\/p>\n
might shine forth with new knowledge,<\/p>\n
demanded her tantalizing eyes<\/p>\n
as gurudakshina<\/p>\n
Do we need<\/p>\n
to talk about the lowborn nurses in the hospitals?<\/p>\n
She, with sleepless eyes lit with love<\/p>\n
tends to tumours, day and night,<\/p>\n
but instead of commending her<\/p>\n
for being as self-less as Florence Nightingale<\/p>\n
they creep into her ‘sisterly’ heart<\/p>\n
as cancerous cells<\/p>\n
Here, for loss of honour and life<\/p>\n
we are, once in a while,<\/p>\n
compensated in cash<\/p>\n
But the surprising part is,<\/p>\n
even after (murder) death<\/p>\n
we don’t get a fistful of honour;<\/p>\n
moreover, we’re subjected to<\/p>\n
lance-like comments\u2013<\/p>\n
‘who asked her to sleep around’ or ‘who asked her to die’\u2013<\/p>\n
that pierce our souls<\/p>\n
and kill us again<\/p>\n
Now tell me<\/p>\n
in this land<\/p>\n
are even murders and rapes<\/p>\n
free of untouchability\u2026?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
(In memory of Sunitha)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Naren Bedide’s<\/strong><\/em> translation of the Telugu poem ‘anTaraani atyaachaaram<\/em>‘ by\u00a0Challapalli Swarooparani\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>(from the collection of poetry\u00a0‘daLita kavitvam \u2013 2<\/strong>‘). Sunitha, in whose memory this poem was written, was a student of the University of Hyderabad (in the nineties) who had committed suicide. Nirmala and Chanti (not the victim’s real name; ‘chanTi’ \u2013 or ‘little one’ in Telugu- is a term of affection used to address a child) refer to other Dalit victims of violence. Chanti, as far as I can remember, was a schoolgirl who was so badly beaten by her teacher that she lost an eye.<\/p>\n