Shiva in a Fair.
He was in Shiva’s outfit,
in the same bus as I
and got off the bus with me.
Tall like a teak tree and lean,
cloud-coloured skin, lightening-quick smile
with a moon made of tin planted onto his head;
He wore kanigale[i] flower on his arm.
A plastic snake around his neck,
a faded tiger-skin pattern,
upon half a lungi.
a Hawaii chappal…
As if in response
To my fascination
He played the damaru[ii]
Swayed the trishula[iii]
Shook his anklets; galagala
And said…I am Shiva.
2
I was at front, and he at the back,
at the fair counter.
While buying tickets too,
--right behind me.
In the junk jewelry store,
he came before me,
and rolled the shining nose-ring
that he held in his palm
and teased the shop-keeper,
“How much does this ‘diamond’ cost?”
In the balloon shop,
he ran his hands softly on all the balloons,
and lent his ear intently to the parapara sounds they made,
“This balloon will go limp before I cross the threshold of the shop”, he declared.
He sang instantly creating a poem
and got a pipe and watch for free!
Getting a variety of coloured cloth out
He moved around the entire store
and bought a yard-long blouse piece
at a discounted rate, of course!
At the red-water sharbat store,
Chatting with the parrot fortune-teller,
Under a torn umbrella…
With the dancing bear,
and its owner,
There…here, here…there
He was everywhere, all over the length and breadth of the fair
Smoking a bit of a beedi,
he went across the hill-heap of kadale puri[iv]
3
Just when I thought he was gone
He appeared again,
at the battassu[v] shop, with his familiar smile!
Coming close slowly, neck bent;
“Son is hungry,
Wife is ill”
Pale-faced, sad.
Ganapa is hungry.
Girija is ill.
For the sake of wife and children,
who do you think will weep,
if not Shiva,
a bhavi[vi]?
Searching the corners of my small purse
I put a five rupee note
Into the palms of this rudravii
And said: This is it.
Shining like lightning
Dancing, Talangu tadigina tomviii
With eyes half-closed,
he struck the natarajaix pose!
Mouth wide open
Eyes transfixed
I folded both hands
And said…
Shiva indeed!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[i] Pink flowers commonly found in Karnataka.
[ii] A small drum which is Shiva’s musical instrument.
[iii] Shiva’s three-pointed weapon-trident
[iv] Puffed rice.
[v] A sweet made of jaggery.
[vi] Conceptual distinctions in the vachanas of the 12th century involve the bhavi, the anubhaavi, the bhakta, the sharana and so on. Bhavi refers to he/she who is worldly(a house holder)
vii Shiva’s wrathful version
viii A dancing rhythm
ix Shiva’s dancing version
From:’Jatreyalli Shiva’(2002) by Savita Nagabhushana
(Translation: Sushumna Kannan)
To be published soon (hopefully!) in a anthology of women's poetry by Women's World.
in the same bus as I
and got off the bus with me.
Tall like a teak tree and lean,
cloud-coloured skin, lightening-quick smile
with a moon made of tin planted onto his head;
He wore kanigale[i] flower on his arm.
A plastic snake around his neck,
a faded tiger-skin pattern,
upon half a lungi.
a Hawaii chappal…
As if in response
To my fascination
He played the damaru[ii]
Swayed the trishula[iii]
Shook his anklets; galagala
And said…I am Shiva.
2
I was at front, and he at the back,
at the fair counter.
While buying tickets too,
--right behind me.
In the junk jewelry store,
he came before me,
and rolled the shining nose-ring
that he held in his palm
and teased the shop-keeper,
“How much does this ‘diamond’ cost?”
In the balloon shop,
he ran his hands softly on all the balloons,
and lent his ear intently to the parapara sounds they made,
“This balloon will go limp before I cross the threshold of the shop”, he declared.
He sang instantly creating a poem
and got a pipe and watch for free!
Getting a variety of coloured cloth out
He moved around the entire store
and bought a yard-long blouse piece
at a discounted rate, of course!
At the red-water sharbat store,
Chatting with the parrot fortune-teller,
Under a torn umbrella…
With the dancing bear,
and its owner,
There…here, here…there
He was everywhere, all over the length and breadth of the fair
Smoking a bit of a beedi,
he went across the hill-heap of kadale puri[iv]
3
Just when I thought he was gone
He appeared again,
at the battassu[v] shop, with his familiar smile!
Coming close slowly, neck bent;
“Son is hungry,
Wife is ill”
Pale-faced, sad.
Ganapa is hungry.
Girija is ill.
For the sake of wife and children,
who do you think will weep,
if not Shiva,
a bhavi[vi]?
Searching the corners of my small purse
I put a five rupee note
Into the palms of this rudravii
And said: This is it.
Shining like lightning
Dancing, Talangu tadigina tomviii
With eyes half-closed,
he struck the natarajaix pose!
Mouth wide open
Eyes transfixed
I folded both hands
And said…
Shiva indeed!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[i] Pink flowers commonly found in Karnataka.
[ii] A small drum which is Shiva’s musical instrument.
[iii] Shiva’s three-pointed weapon-trident
[iv] Puffed rice.
[v] A sweet made of jaggery.
[vi] Conceptual distinctions in the vachanas of the 12th century involve the bhavi, the anubhaavi, the bhakta, the sharana and so on. Bhavi refers to he/she who is worldly(a house holder)
vii Shiva’s wrathful version
viii A dancing rhythm
ix Shiva’s dancing version
From:’Jatreyalli Shiva’(2002) by Savita Nagabhushana
(Translation: Sushumna Kannan)
To be published soon (hopefully!) in a anthology of women's poetry by Women's World.
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