Hindi Poem by Ramdhari Singh 'Dinakar'
Translated by C.P. Ravikumar
Wherever I go
I hear the same plea:
Move the earth
And rid us of this stillness!
Alight your torch
And rid us of this darkness!
Move a mountain or two
Raise a storm, like you used to,
O bard, once more
Let's hear you roar! Roar! Roar!
I sit quietly and wonder -
When did I ever roar?
What people perceived as my out-pour
Was indeed Gandhi's roar.
The same Gandhi who gave us life.
Even then, what we witnessed was
Only the storm, not Gandhi.
He remained on the backstage
Of roaring storms.
Tell you the truth, if I may,
He would be amused
To see storms and roar
Added to his play.
A roar does not arise from a thick voice.
It comes from a soft one.
A voice that resembles a lone candle burning against the night,
A voice that moves not at the pace of an eagle
But that of a pigeon.
Gandhi surpassed the eagle in its swiftness -
For he was the voice of muted silence.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem