"Our Blood," a Hindi poem by Agyeya, translated by Kalpna Singh-Chitnis
Our Blood
The blood of my brother
on this side is as red as
your sister's blood on the other side.
The blood streams merged on the ground,
but the land did not gain consciousness.
The soil did not revive.
No sprout arose from the ground.
The earth does not take tainted offerings.
The venom of hatred has stripped
the light of our blood, now sterile and infertile.
हमारा रक्त / अज्ञेय
यह इधर बहा मेरे भाई का रक्त
वह उधर रहा उतना ही लाल
तुम्हारी एक बहिन का रक्त!
बह गया, मिलीं दोनों धारा
जा कर मिट्टी में हुईं एक
पर धरा न चेती मिट्टी जागी नहीं
न अंकुर उस में फूटा।
यह दूषित दान नहीं लेती-
क्योंकि घृणा के तीखे विष से आज हो गया है
अशक्त निस्तेज और निर्वीर्य हमारा रक्त!
Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan (March 7th, 1911- April 4th, 1987), commonly known as Agyeya, was an Indian writer, poet, novelist, literary critic, journalist, and revolutionary. He is known as the pioneer of experimentalism in modern Hindi literature. He wrote over hundred books and was given India's highest awards in literature, such as Sahitya Akademi Award (1964), Jnanpith Award (1978), and Golden Wreath Award (1983) at Struga.
Kalpna Singh-Chitnis is an Indian-American poet, writer, filmmaker, and author of four poetry collections. Nominated for the Pushcart Prize, she is the recipient of the 'Naji Naaman Literary Prize,' 'Rajiv Gandhi Global Excellence Award,' and 'Bihar Rajbhasha Award,' given by the government of Bihar, India. Poems from her award-winning book "Bare Soul" and her poetry film "River of Songs" have been included in the "Nova Collection" and the "Polaris Collection" of the Lunar Codex time capsules, and are going with NASA missions to the Moon in 2022 and 2023.
