Proscribed life

Challapalli Swarooparani

Branded untouchable

Even as a foetus in the womb,

I was born bearing the stamp of castelessness;

Identified as a whore on the day of birth itself

I was thrown into the cess-pit

Of blind customs and superstitions

To become a forbidden life.

My infancy, which should have flowed like music

Filled with joyous cooing and warbling,

Sings dirges

Even before it blooms fully;

My youth, which should have exuded the fragrance

Of a childhood soaked

In the love and indulgence of my parents,

Is unveiled, in the presence of the goddess in the temple,

As a doll for sale in the bazaar.

In this arid ultra-modern age,

Which paraded us naked

Burnt our tender youth on pyres

And fed us excreta,

Mine is a strange tear-filled tale.

I’ve been carrying the burden of

Generations of reproach

Ages of neglect

As inheritance;

In this Karmabhoomi, the unique honour

Of being recognized as a whore from birth

Is entirely mine.

My story, which makes

all revolutions

In unison

Bow their heads in shame back into the stone age,

Shall be written in which chapter

Of which history text

Of this glorious nation..?!

Kuffir Nalgundwar’s  translation of Challapalli Swarooparani’s Telugu poem ‘nishiddha carita‘  (from the anthology of Dalit poetry ‘daLita kavitvam- 2‘)