'A Social Issue' by Govindagraj
Translated, annotated and introduced by Chandrakant Kaluram Mhatre
Ram Ganesh Gadkari (1885-1919), the mercurial humorist and legendary playwright, who wrote poems under the pen name Govindagraj (गोविंदाग्रज Gōvindāgraja), is well-known for his romantic poems; but it is often forgotten that an important strand of Romanticism is to decline the social status-quo and strive for a better-world. Govindagraj, like his model poet Keshavsut (केशवसुत Kēśavasuta), longed for a just and equal society; and, through his writing, led constant attacks on the social evils, including casteism and sexism. He wielded satire exceptionally well as demonstrated in this poem which exposes the hypocritical reformists / social workers who take up only the causes that suit their needs. And it achieves that in just four brief scenes: two of which lay bare the ugly casteist mentality exhibited in every-day situations, while the remaining two scenes give more than a glimpse of the callous sexist attitude of these casteist men. Govindagraj was the first — and perhaps the only — modern Marathi writer to spell out the defiant truth: the casteist and the sexist are the two sides of the same man. In other words, a casteist man is always a misogynistic, entitled, sexist man. As such, this poem is a ripe field for critical caste studies.
Featured Poem
एक समस्या
Source Text
असे एकदां दोघे चौघे कामाला प्रातःकाळी ॥
घरांतुनी बाहेर निघालों; घाई जाण्याची सगळी ॥
तोच धडकली समोर येऊनि वृद्धा विधवा दारात ॥
अपशकून हा पाहुनि बसला त्रासिक चरका चित्तांत ॥
"वेळ साधिते कशी बरोबर पहा अशी पीडा नसती" ॥
"या विद्रुप अवदसा सारख्या अशा चहुंकडे वणवणती" ॥
***
चार पावले पुढे सरकलो विसरुनि सारे झोकांत ॥
एक अडाणी कुणबट आले कागद घेउनि हातात ॥
अडवुनि बोले, "वाचुनि दावा दादा कागद हा इतुका" ॥
त्रासुनि वदलो, "बाबा, आम्हां दुसरीं कामे नाहित का?" ॥
"गिचमिड ओळी - भिकार अक्षर; लावित बसणें हें कोणीं?" ॥
"दुसर्या कोणाच्या पाठीवर लाद नेउनी ही गोणी!" ॥
"येईना वाचतां तुम्हाला तरि पत्रांचा व्यवहार ॥
कां करितां मग उगाच हा अव्यापारेषुव्यापार?" ॥
दिले चिटोरे त्याचे त्याच्या अंगावरती टाकून ॥
चालूं झालो गप्पा मारित कांहीं कांहीं हांसून ॥
***
जाता किंचित् पुढे आढळे - नाव न घेणे कवनांत ॥
डोकीवरती पाटी घेउनि अगदी शेजारुनि जात ॥
त्या घाणीने मस्तक फिरले - रागहि आला भरपूर ॥
बोलत कांहीं आम्ही झालों त्यापासुनि आधी दूर ॥
"इतका झाला दिवस तरी हे खुशाल अजुनी फिरतात" ॥
"घाण घेउनी चहूंकडे ही हवे तसे वावरतात" ॥
"उर्मट तर हे इतके असती - बेमुर्वत देतिल धक्का" ॥
"बंदोबस्तच या लोकांचा केला नाहीं कुणिं पक्का" ॥
***
जातां जातां पुढें यापरी एक दिसे पिंपळपार ॥
दत्ताचे देवालय खाली छोटेसें शोभे फार ॥
सूंदर तरुणी हिंडत होती त्या देवाच्या भंवताली ॥
निरखुनि बघतां - हरहर ! होती विधवा ती बाला असली ॥
उचंबळुनी ये करुणारस - नेत्रहि अश्रूंनी भिजले ॥
निर्दयता दैवाची बघुनी हृदय बिचारे ते थिजले ॥
न्यायदेवता जागृत झाली त्या सौंदर्या बघतांच ॥
विषय दयेचा लावित नाही कोणाच्या जीवा आंच?॥
"धिग् धर्माला - धिग् रुढीला - तेतिस कोटी देवांना…" ॥
किती बोललो - नको सांगणे ! पाठ असे तें सर्वांना ॥
काम कशाचे ! धाम कशाचे ! एक प्रश्न मग हृदयांत —॥
"सुधारणा होणार तरि कधी या दुर्दैवी देशांत ?"
***
प्रश्नाच्या उत्तरासाठी रसिकां जोडुनी करां ॥
'गोविंदाग्रज’ प्रार्थी - 'कीं समस्या पूर्ण ही करा’ ॥
Target Text
Once, a handful of us menfolk were just leaving home
For work early in the morning; of course in a tearing hurry.
Then promptly an old widow stood in front of us at the door.
Witnessing this ill-omen1, our hearts were horribly scarred:
“Look at the perfect timing of this parasitic affliction!”
“These misfigured2 vixens keep running amok all the time.”
***
Leaving it all behind, we had barely moved four paces
When an ignorant kunabat3 with some paper in his hand
Blocked the road and said, “Sir, please read me this paper.”
Irritated, we told, “Dear chap, don’t we have any other work?”
“Cramped lines, scrawly letters — who’s going to decipher?”
“Go and find someone else to dump this burden on!”
“When you can’t read, why exchange the letters?
Why do you get into a business that’s none of yours?”
Throwing his scrap of paper back on his face,
We took to the road, now chatting, now laughing.
***
A little ahead, we stumbled on – cannot even name him in a poem.
He passed so close by with the basket on his head4
That the stench turned our stomachs; we got very angry too.
Still scolding, we distanced ourselves right away from him:
“The sun has climbed so high, still they linger around!”
“With that filth, they wander all around howsoever they like.”
“So insolent they are, they’d shove you inconsiderately!”
“No one’s taught them a good lesson for once and all.”
***
We kept going until we came upon a peepal tree platform
With a small but splendid temple of Lord Dattatreya.
A beautiful young woman was circumambulating it.
Upon closer inspection — o Lord! Such a damsel and a widow!
Pity began swelling up, eyes also welled up.
Our poor hearts froze, seeing the cruelty of fate.
Our sense of justice awakened, upon seeing that beauty.
Whose soul is not stirred by an object of mercy?
“Shame on religion - on traditions - on the pantheon of gods…”
How we berated — needless to mention! Everyone knows it by heart.
Who cares for work! Or for home! Now only one question in heart —
“When will there be reforms in this wretched nation?”
***
Seeking an answer from the discerning readers,
Govindagraj prays earnestly: May this issue be fixed.
_____________
-
Seeing a widow’s face early in the morning or while setting out for any work was believed to bring certain misfortune upon one’s head.
-
A brahmin widow’s head was tonsured right after her husband’s death and she could never grow her hair back, thanks to the periodical tonsures forced on her.
-
कुणबट (kuṇabaṭa): a casteist slur used by the caste-supremacists for anyone who cultivates land as a caste-assigned profession.
-
The inhumane practice of making people carry human excreta from dry latrines in bamboo baskets on their heads to dispose off far away from the town. Even naming that person was considered extremely polluting by the same people whose waste they were forced to scavenge manually. It was banned only in 1993 under The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act.