Listen Some More, Maqbul Fida Husain! Poem translated from Malayalam Original poem by* P K Parakkadavu * translated by *Dr.Yaseen Ashraf *
O Artist who painted the ‘Battle of Yamuna and Ganga’, You are now the guest of a Desert That hasn’t exhausted its kindness yet. But here we are, for years a desert Dried of any verdure of mind. We have a bit more to tell you Before you start flying in the sky With that pure white cotton-beard. Van Gogh had his pet yellow colour. You could have opted for saffron. Even when you were infatuated with Madhuri We didn’t label it a Love Jihad. We had branded the greatest woman writer in Malayalam The first victim of Love Jihad, So we could easily have said That India’s greatest painter is the first fighter of Love Jihad. How very tolerant of us That we didn’t say so— Never! Of course your grey paintings Are worth billions. When Indira visited America long ago Sure, it was your painting that she took As the best memento from India. But how worthless your paintings are In comparison with that gory picture we painted, With human blood, in Bhivandi, Ahmedabad And many other Indian cities! In Gujarat, we had painted another picture Ripping open a pregnant woman’s belly And gouging out the embryo with tridents. Husain, what price your Horse-paintings in comparison? True, you had put your tongue to sleep While the Emergency raged And while the Babri Masjid was razed down. Yet, why don’t you go meet Bal Thackeray Before you draw anything? At age ninety-five, Dare you ignore our edicts still? Enough! Out! (P K Parakkadavu is a renowned storyteller& a senior journalist in Malayalam. He can be contacted via e-mail: *[email protected]*) - -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "humanrights movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/humanrights-movement?hl=en.
