Mohenjodaro, a poem by Vidrohi
Vidrohi is the pseudonym of Rama Shankar Yadav, a vagabond poet in Hindi and Avadhi.
by Vidrohi
1.
An empire after all is an empire
Be it the Roman the British
Or the hyper new American empire
It has a single task to carry —
Over mountains plateaus fields
By the river or by the sea shore
It scatters the bones of human beings
And claims to summarise history
In three sentences —
Look how I set the world ablaze
Look how I scorched the earth
Look how I littered human bones all over
But I am the descendant of Spartacus
And I live by his promises —
Go tell Caesar
We will collect the slaves of the world
And one day enter Rome.
2.
You my people save me from this fire
You my people of the east
Your lovely fields ploughed by the sword’s edge
Your harvests crushed by the chariot’s wheels
Save me from this fire
You my people of the west
Your wives sold in the marketplace
Your children thrown into chimneys
Save me from this fire
You my people of the north
On the shoulders of whose ancestors
Mountains were broken
Save me from this fire
You my people of the far south
Your colonies thrown into flames
Your boats sunk in bottomless seas
Save me from this fire
You my people
You from whose blood
The pyramids the pillars the walls were built
Save me from this fire
To save me is to save the woman
Whose corpse lies on the last step of Mohenjodaro’s lake
To save me is to save those human beings
Whose bones lie scattered in the lake
To save me is to save your ancestors
To save me is to save your children
Save me
I am your poet.
[The versions of Vidrohi’s poems often changed, they would get lengthened, and sometimes merge with other poems. This is a particular version of the poem.]
Vidrohi is the pseudonym of Rama Shankar Yadav, a vagabond poet in Hindi and Avadhi. He was perhaps the last exemplar of the oral tradition, who never wrote down his poems. The versions often changed, would get lengthened, and sometimes merge with other poems.
The poem has been translated by Manash Bhattacharjee, a poet, writer, translator and political science scholar. His first collection of poetry, Ghalib’s Tomb and Other Poems (2013), was published by The London Magazine.