Edited by
Eunice de Souza & Melanie Silgardo
THESE MY WORDS
The Penguin Book of Indian Poetry
Contents
About the Authors
Introduction
‘What then shall poetry be about?’
Arun Kamble (b. 1953) Which Language Should I Speak?
Kalidasa (c. 5 CE-6 CE) Is Poetry Always Worthy When It’s Old?
Ezhuthacchan (16 CE) From Adhyatma Ramayana
Nissim Ezekiel (1924-2004) Poet, Lover, Birdwatcher
Michael Madhusudan Dutt (1824-73) Banglabhasha
Agha Shahid Ali (1949-2001) In Arabic
Chandrasekhar Kambar (b. 1937) The Character I Created
Hemant Divate (b. 1967) The Average Temperature of a Word Required for it to be Used in a Line of Poetry
Nara (Velcheru Narayana Rao) (b. 1932) White Paper
K. Satchidanandan (b. 1946) Gandhi and Poetry
Debarati Mitra (b. 1946) Alphabet
Nanne Coda (12 CE) From On Poetry in Telugu
Bhavabhuti (725 CE) If Learned Critics Publicly Deride
Meena Kandasamy (b. 1984) Mulligatawny Dreams
Kunchan Nambiar (1700-70) From Prologue to The Progress to the Palace
Chellapilla Venkata Sastri (1870-1950) I Was Born for Poetry
Mona Zote (b. 1973) What Poetry Means to Ernestina in Peril
Hiren Bhattacharya (b. 1932) These My Words
J.P. Das (b. 1936) After Gujarat
Arvind (b. 1950) First Poem
Govindadas Jha (1570-1640) Homage to Jayadeva
Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899-1976) From My Explanation
Rituraj (b. 1940) Poets
Vallathol Narayana Menon (1878-1958) From Faith and Erudition
Nilmani Phookan (b. 1933) Poetry Is for Those Who Wouldn’t Read It
Firaq Gorakhpuri (1896-1982) If There Are No Flowers
Smita Agarwal (b. 1958) Daywatch in the Scriptorium
Sunil Gangopadhyay (b. 1934) City of Memories
Bhartrhari (c. 400 CE) Her Face Is Not the Moon, Nor Are Her Eyes
Dilip Chitre (b. 1938) Evenings in Iowa City, Iowa
Thangjam Ibopishak (b. 1948) Poem
Mangalesh Dabral (b. 1948) Outside
From Jayavallabha’s Vajjalagam (c. 8 CE) On Poetry
Buddhadeva Bose (1908-74) For My Forty-Eighth Winter: 2
B.C. Ramchandra Sharma (1925-2005) An Old Tale from China
Kedarnath Singh (b. 1934) On Reading a Love Poem
‘In your gracious garden’
From the Rig Veda (c. 17 CE-11 BCE) Creation Hymn
From the oral Kannada epic Halumatha Mahakavya Creation Myth
Akhtar-ul Iman (1915-96) Creation
Harihara (c. 12 CE-13 CE) From Girija Kalyana The Summer Sun
Amiya Chakravarty (1901-86) Calcutta
R.V. Pandit (1917-90) My Goa
Anon, Gujarati Folk Song Rain of the World
Jyotirmoy Datta (b. 1936) Crabs on the Beach
Vikram Seth (b. 1952) Flash
Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh (1917-69) A Single Shooting Star
Greece Chunder Dutt (1833-92) Water Fowl
Kalidasa (c. 5 CE-6 CE) From The Loom of Time
Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950) The Tiger and the Deer
Bana (7 CE) From The Deeds of Harsha A Stallion Wakes from His Sleep
Anon, Punjabi Folk Song Lullaby
Anon, Santhal Ritual Song Erok Sim Bonga
Sarojini Naidu (1879-1948) The Bird Sanctuary
From Jayavallabha’s Vajjalagam (c. 8 CE) Summer
Sri Jnanadeva (1275-96) From Anubhavamrita, Canto IX Life of the Opened Self
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) From Gitanjali, 100
Subramania Bharati (1882-1921) Wind, 9
From the Atharva Veda (c. 2 BCE) Book XIX, Hymn 50 A Hymn to Night for Protection and Prosperity
From the Isa Upanishads (c. 12 BCE-6 BCE)
Umashankar Joshi (1911-88) Miles upon Miles
Vyasa (c. 11 BCE-4 BCE) From the Bhagvad Gita
Eunice de Souza (b. 1940) Learn from the Almond Leaf
Melanie Silgardo (b. 1956) The Earthworm’s Story
Siddhartha Menon (b. 1967) Beetles
Santan Rodrigues (1948-2008) The Hang
Anand Thakore (b. 1971) Tusker Kills Mahout at Religious Ceremony
Are you looking for a god?’
Sankaracarya (c. 8 CE) From Sivahandakahari
Rasananda (c. 17 CE) Many Many Aeons
Nammalvar (9 CE) From Love’s Messengers
Vidyapati (15 CE) Imaginary Re-union 2
Periyazhwar (Vishnuchittan) (9 CE) From Hush-a-bye Baby
Akkamahadevi (12 CE) Like an Elephant, Caught
Arun Kolatkar (1932-2004) Yeshwant Rao
Arul Cellatturai (c. mid-20 CE) Little House (6)
Muktabai (13 CE) Open the Wattle-door, O Jnaneshwar!
Eesar Das Barhat (1538-1618) Let the Pot with Just Water in It
Kanakadasa (16 CE) Saku Saku
Allama Prabhu (12 CE) It’s Dark Above the Clutching Hand
Bahinabhai Chaudhuri (1880-1951) From Bahinabai’s Life and Thinking
From the Rig Veda (c. 17 BCE-11 BCE) The Dove of Death
Guru Nanak (1469-1539) Chet (March-April)
Basavanna (1106-67/68) Like a Monkey on a Tree
Devadurllabha Das (16 CE) From Rahasya Manjari
Janabai (c. 1298-1350) God My Darling
Bullah Shah (1680-1759) Strange Are the Times
Amir Khusrau (1253-1325) Ghazal 257: Poverty Is More Pleasant than Majesty
Sheikh Mohamad (16 CE) So It Is Done by God Gopal
Namdev (1270-1350) From Returning from the Pilgrimage
Harinath Majumdar (1833-96) Jaya—
Sheikh Farid (1173-1265) From Eight Poems
Vipin Parikh (b. 1930) I Want a God . . .
Periyalvar (9 CE) From Hymns of the Alvars Who Shall Deliver Me from the Body of This Death?
Mohammad Iqbal (1873-1938) Man and God
Eknath (1533-99) Wonder of Wonders
Puspadanta (8 CE) From Sivamahimnahstava
Akha (17 CE) Vaishnav Struts About Town
Ma Basanti Cakrabartti (20 CE) Ma, If You Wore a Benarasi Sari
Joaquim Miranda (c. mid-18 CE) From Jesus Entered the Garden
Annamayya (1408-1503) Imagine That I Wasn’t Here
Narsinh (Narsi) Mehta (1408-80) If You Abuse Me with Your Language
Anapiyya (19 CE) From Napikal Nayakam Pillaittamil Come So I Can Bedeck, with Anklets and Bells
Mahadeviyakka (12 CE) He Bartered My Heart
Ksetrayya (mid-17 CE) A Courtesan to Her Lover
Mirabai (1498-1546) This Pain Has Driven Me Mad
Palalikkuttar (c. mid-14 CE) From Tiruccentur Pillaittamil
Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899-1976) Let’s Be Girls, Ma
Sakalesha Madarasa (12 CE) Both of Us Are Tired
Tukaram (c. 1608) God’s Own Dog: VI
Salabega (c. 17 CE) O Sakhi, the Flute Plays in the Grove
Ramprasad Sen (1718-75) What a Joke!
Tyagaraja (1767-1847) Tell Me Why This Bad Mood Now
Purandara Dasa (1485-1565) I Swear
Andal (c. 9 CE) From Tiruppavai
Subramania Bharati (1882-1921) Krishna the Omnipresent
S. Joseph (b. 1965) My Sister’s Bible
Kailash Vajpeyi Momin
Minal Sarosh (b. 1960) On the Loft
‘I’m ever vigilant’
Ravji Patel (1939-68) Whirlwind
Dhoomil (1935-75) A City, an Evening, and an Old Man: Me
Nilakantha Dikshita (1580-1644) From Peace
Jayanta Mahap
atra (b. 1928) The Abandoned British Cemetery at Balasore, India
Mahadevi Verma (1907-87) No Matter the Way Be Unknown
Nissim Ezekiel (1924-2004) Background, Casually
Jaya Mehta (b. 1932) When a Stone Is in One’s Hands
Nirendranath Chakravarti (b. 1924) Old Age
Firaq Gorakhpuri (1896-1982) Annihilate the Stillness of the Evening
Narayana (c. 12 CE) From Hitopadesa On Hunger
Vinod Kumar Shukla (b. 1937) Those That Will Never Come to My Home
Mangesh Padgaonkar (b. 1929) Lamp
Melanie Silgardo (b. 1956) Between
Basudev Sunani (b. 1962) Satyabhama
R. Parthasarathy (b. 1934) Taj Mahal
Shanmuga Subbiah (b. 1924) Salutations
Dhan Gopal Mukerji (1890-1937) In Bedlam
Manohar Shetty (b. 1953) Rumour
Attoor Ravi Varma (b. 1931) Sitting
A.K. Ramanujan (1929-93) Anxiety
Aziz Bano Darab (1934-2005) Ghazals
Kunwar Narain (b. 1927) Day by Day
Bal Sitaram Mardhekar (1909-56) This Is the Order
Tishani Doshi (b. 1975) Homecoming
Padma Sachdev (b. 1940) Sun
Jerry Pinto (b. 1966) Window
The Empress Nur Jahan (1577-1645) On the Tomb of Us Poor People
Kutti Revathi (b. 1974) Breasts
Jyotsna Karmakar (b. 1950) To Grandmother, Long After
Ranjit Hoskote (b. 1969) Fern
Adil Mansuri (1936-2008) The City
Sitakant Mahapatra (b. 1937) Time Does Not Fly
Balachandran Chullikkad (b. 1957) A Labourer’s Laughter II
Jeet Thayil (b. 1959) Spiritus Mundi
Sitanshu Yashashchandra (b. 1941) Solar
Susmita Bhattacharya (b. 1947) Five Acts
Keki Daruwalla (b. 1937) Map-maker
Lal Ded (1330-1384) From I, Lalla: The Poems of Lal Ded
Pravin Gadhvi (b. 1951) Shadow
Mrinal Pande (b. 1946) Two Women Knitting
Anon, Rajputana Folk Song A Child-Husband
Gieve Patel (b. 1940) The Ambiguous Fate of Gieve Patel, He Being Neither Muslim Nor Hindu in India
Gagan Gill (b. 1959) The Girl’s Desire Moves among Her Bangles
Ali Sardar Jafri (1912-2000) A Poem
Valmiki (c. 600 BCE-250 CE) From the Ramayana, Book VI, Canto CXVII Sita’s Disgrace
Valmiki (c. 600 BCE-250 CE) From the Ramayana, Book V, Canto 2 Lanka
Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib (1713-80) On Drinking
‘My heart’s own love’
Punam Nambudiri (c. 16 CE) From Ramayana Campu The Moon-Rise
Habba Khatoon (c. 16 CE) I Will Seek You Down the Wandering Brooks
Mahe Jabeen (b. 1961) A Love Poem
Baladev Rath (1789-1845) Oh, Pardon Me
Amaru (c. 800 CE) She Neither Turned Away
Palai Patiya Perunkatunko (c. 300 BCE-200 CE) There Are Good Omens: The House-Lizard Chirps
Vedanta Deshika (1268-1369) From the Prologue of Mission of the Goose
Leela Gandhi (b. 1966) Noun
Waris Shah (1722-98) From Heer-Ranjha
Mustansir Dalvi (b. 1964) Peabody
Anon, Rajputana Folk Song The Jewel Knight
Bilhana (c. 10 CE-12 CE) From Fifty Stanzas of a Thief
Anon, Chhattisgarh Field Song Complaints
Anon, Punjabi Song The Ballad of Laila
Chandidas (c. 15 CE) The First Stage of Radha’s Love
Shah ‘Madho Lal’ Husain (1539-93) Open the Book, Brother Brahmin
Jayadeva (c. 12 CE) From Gita Govinda Song Seven
Habba Khatoon (c. 16 CE) Let’s Go to the Upland Woods, My Friend
Kutti Revathi (b. 1974) I’ve Brought This Summer Just for You
Dom Moraes (1938-2004) Asleep
Harsha (c. 12 CE) From Ratnavali
Anon, Goan Folk Song (17 CE) On the Banks of a Lake
Ilanko Atikal (c. 5 CE) From The Cilappatikaram, Canto 1 The Song of Praise
Anon The Dalliance of the Leopards
Anon Love Song
Anon Distance Destroys Love
Anon The Song of Phatmal (c. 1600 CE)
Janna (12 CE-13 CE) From The Tale of the Glory-Bearer
Cempulappeyanirar (c. 1 CE-3 CE) What He Said
Allur Nanmullai (c. 1 CE-2 CE) What She Said
Anon Song
Annamayya (1408-1503) A Woman Talking to Herself
Shah Abdul Latif (1689-1752) The Wayward Heart
Anon (c. 9 CE) From The Muttollayiram His Infatuates Complain
Mir Taqi Mir The Miracle of Wine
‘The broom’s the limit’
Amrita Pritam (1919-2005) Daily Wages
Balraj Komal (b. 1928) Saba’s Hands Wear a Bridal Henna Tint Now
Bhanudatta (c. 15 CE) From Bouquet of Rasa
Balaram Das (c. 15 CE) From Lakshmi Purana
Sutapa Bhattacharya (b. 1942) Draupadi
Kamala Das (1934-2009) The Stone Age
Cantirakanti (b. 1961) Wanted: A Broom
Trilochan (1917-2007) Champa Doesn’t Know Her Alphabet
Arundhathi Subramaniam (b. 1967) Tree
Sumangala’s Mother (4 BCE) ‘Tis Well with Me
Anon, Gujarati Folk Song My Husband’s Home
Soma (c. 4 BCE) The Sceptic Says
Rukmini Bhaya Nair (b. 1952) Paranomasia
Harindra Dave (1930-95) The Speck
Kadammanitta Ramakrishnan (b. 1935) Tar and Broom
Mamta Kalia (b. 1940) Compulsions
Tukaram (b. 1608-50) Where Did It Go Wrong?
Anon, Rajputana Folk Song There Is No Limit to Desire
Shakunt Mathur (b. 1920) Waiting
Shobha Bhagwat (b. 1947) Husbands
Bilqees Zafirul Hasan (b. 1938) Dignity
Anon From The Gathasaptasati Let Faithful Wives
Anon, Gujarati Folk Song Room Zoom
Bihari (c. 16 CE) What One of Her Companions Said to Another
‘The sky between us’
Manohar Shetty (b. 1953) Personal Effects
Anuradha Mahapatra (b. 1957) Cow and Grandmother
Markanda Das (15 CE) From To the Cuckoo
Shakti Chattopadhyay (1934-95) A Memory Comes Back
Srinivas Rayaprol (1925-98) Married Love
Dhurjati (16 CE) My Chest Has Been Worn Away
G.S. Shivarudrappa (b. 1926) My Pocket
Natwarlal Pandya ‘Ushnas’ (1920-2011) I, My Father
Anon, Bodo Folk Song Marriage Song
Madeshwara (c. 14 CE) From Male Madeshwara
Gnanakoothan (b. 1938) Son to Mother
Anjum Hasan (b. 1972) In My Mother’s Clothes
B.S. Mardhekar (1909-56) Son-in-law
Narasinh Mehta (1408-80) Here Is a Palanquin
O.N.V. Kurup (b. 1931) Those Who Have Lost the Nectar
Nirmal Prabha Bordoloi (b. 1933) In the Smell of Rice Fields in Autumn
Daljit Nagra (b. 1966) In a White Town
S.A. Usha (b. 1954) To Mother
Anon, Satpura Folk Song On One Side of the Ganga
Kampan (1180-1250) From the Ramayana Patalam 8; Jatayu Gives Up His Life
Tulsidas (c. 1527-1623) From the Ramayana Childhood of Rama
Vinda Karandikar (b. 1918) A Stalemate
Adil Jussawalla (b. 1940) Colour Problems in the Family
G.J.V. Prasad Desperately Seeking India
Imtiaz Dharker Bombay, Mumbai
Vinod Kumar Shukla Dhaulagiri
‘River of blood’
Keshav Malik (b. 1924) In Praise of Guns
Sri Sri (1910-83) Really?
From an oral political narrative (c. late 19 CE) The Bedas of Haligali
Ajneya (1911-87) Hiroshima
Amrita Pritam (1919-2005) Ode to Waris Shah
Anon, Songs from the North (Kerala) From Unniyarcha and Aromal Unni
Imtiaz Dharker (b. 1954) Gaddi Aa Gayi
Faiz Ahmad Faiz (1911-84) The Morn
ing of Freedom, 15th August 1947
Robin Ngangom (b. 1959) Flight
Anon (c. 16 CE) From Purattirattu How Do I Know This Is My Son?
Tenneti Suri (1911-58) Here Comes God
K. Ayyappa Paniker (b. 1930) Philistines
Auvaiyar (c. 100 BCE-250 CE) Elegy (for Anci)
Khadar Mohiuddin (b. 1955) From Birthmark A Certain Fiction Bit Me
Akbar Ilahabadi (1846-1921) Satirical Verses
Rangrelo Bithu (16 CE) Praises Galore to the Land of Dhat
Vanparanar (c. 100 BCE-250 CE) A Woman and Her Dying Warrior
Sarala Das (15 CE) From the Mahabharata
Mirza Mohammad Rafi Sauda (1713-80) From The State of the Realm
Ajneya (1911-87) Kalemegdan
Raghuvir Sahay (1929-90) Cycle Rickshaw
Jaysinh Birjepatil (b. 1933) The Secunderabad Club
Shrikant Varma (1931-86) Process
Tabish Khair (b. 1966) Remembering Tiananmen
Lakhmi Khilani (b. 1935) When That Day Comes
Kunwar Narain (b. 1927) Ayodhya, 1992
Vyasa From the Mahabharata Bhishma and Parsurama Engage in Combat
Book XI Gandhari’s Lament for the Slain
Anon, Political Song This Night Is Endless
Pash (1950-88) No, I Am Not Losing My Sleep
Narayan Surve (b. 1926) Lifetime
Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena (1927-83) Red Bicycle
Nirala (1899-1961) Breaking Stones
Chandrashekara Patil (b. 1939) Once Upon a Time
Purandara Dasa (1484-1564) Where Are the Untouchables
Gieve Patel (b. 1940) Continuum
Anon From Bharath An Epic of the Dungri Bhils
‘Sleep on your left side’
Arvind Krishna Mehrotra (b. 1947) Bhojpuri Descant
Bhavabhuti (c. 725 CE) From Act 2 Rama’s Last Act
Gopal Honnalgere (1942-2003) How to Tame a Pair of New Chappals
Dharmakirti (c. 7 CE) The Tradition
Siddalingaiah (b. 1954) I Must Have a Word
Vallana (c. 900 CE-1100 CE) The Oblique Invitation
Ravidas (1376-1448) I’ve Never Known How to Tan or Sew
Jibanananda Das (1899-1954) A Strange Darkness
Kabir (c. 14 CE) Let’s Go
Vemana (c. 17 CE/18 CE) Why Marry?
Kanaka Ha Ma (b. 1964) Series of Omens
Anon (c. 13 CE) From The Art of the Courtesan
Ravji Patel (1939-68) That Afternoon
Rabindranath Tagore (1866-1941) They Call You Mad
From Jayavallabha’s Vajjalagam (c. 8 CE) What She Told Her Daughter about Unchaste Women
The Dhammapada (c. 4 CE/5 CE) From The Fool
Namdeo Dhasal (b. 1949) Stone Masons, My Father, and Me
Kabir (c. 14 CE) Listen Carefully
M. Gopalakrishna Adiga (1918-92) Do Something, Brother
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