Untouchable Rape

Challapalli Swarooparani

This is untouchable Sunitha,

the once-upon-a-time girl

you all forgot, speaking:

I address myself as untouchable because

in this land

just as there are untouchable hunger, untouchable loot

there are untouchable (atma) hatyas*

and untouchable rapes too

You might be surprised

but I swear by my love for Yogishwar Reddy

that I am an untouchable suicide..!

Otherwise, I too

would have sizzled like something spicy from a tandoor

on the dining tables of parliament

instead of being buried behind the newspapers …!

Here, because education,

love and marriage too

smell and taste of caste

our Nirmala’s death a few days ago

was also attributed to ‘natural causes’

Talking about the recent issue of our Chanti:

as soon as she learnt a few letters,

the pantulamma**, afraid that her caste-less eyes

might shine forth with new knowledge,

demanded her tantalizing eyes

as gurudakshina

Do we need

to talk about the lowborn nurses in the hospitals?

She, with sleepless eyes lit with love

tends to tumours, day and night,

but instead of commending her

for being as self-less as Florence Nightingale

they creep into her ‘sisterly’ heart

as cancerous cells

Here, for loss of honour and life

we are, once in a while,

compensated in cash

But the surprising part is,

even after (murder) death

we don’t get a fistful of honour;

moreover, we’re subjected to

lance-like comments–

‘who asked her to sleep around’ or ‘who asked her to die’–

that pierce our souls

and kill us again

Now tell me

in this land

are even murders and rapes

free of untouchability…?

 

(In memory of Sunitha)

 

Naren Bedide’s translation of the Telugu poem ‘anTaraani atyaachaaram‘ by Challapalli Swarooparani (from the collection of poetry ‘daLita kavitvam – 2‘). 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’ – 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.

* (atma) hatya: hatya means murder in Telugu, while aatmahatya stands for suicide.

** pantulamma: female teacher (colloquial).

This poem was first published on The Shared Mirror