Translated from the Punjabi by Kumar Sushil
Trusted sources convey,
the reply has come from Delh
ito the letter, inked in blood.
The response says:
O youth—
Rewrite your letter in Punjabi
Also in black ink and not in blood
and resend—
for our scanner didn’t decipher
the Punjabi phrases inked in blood.
Note: The poem was written during the Indian farmers’ protests of 2020-21.
Gurbhajan Singh Gill (b. 1953, Gurdaspur) retired as Senior Editor from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. He remained Secretary General of Prof. Mohan Singh Memorial Foundation (Regd.) Ludhiana for a long period and was President of Punjabi Sahit Academy, Ludhiana, from 2010 to 2014. Presently he is Chairman of Punjabi Lok-Virasat Academy and associated with numerous literary, cultural and sports organizations. He has authored about 20 books of poetry which are close to the hearts of scholars, poets and writers. He has co-authored Camere Di Akh Boldi with Tej Partap Singh Sandhu on civil and social issues of Punjab.
Kumar Sushil is a Professor of English at Department of Languages, Punjabi University, Guru Kashi Campus, Damdama Sahib, Talwandi Sabo. He did a PhD on the novels of Shashi Tharoor. His area of specialization is translation studies, Indian/Punjabi literature. He wrote a book Anuvad Da Samvad (Discourse on Translation) (2003). His edited book Rereading of Gurdial Singh’s Fiction (2005) is a collection of translation of some articles on Gurdial Singh (Jnanpeeth awardee Punjabi Writer). He has translated short stories of Pakistani writer Bushra Ejaz in Snake and Shadow (2009). He has also translated Privatization of the Consciousness (2017) by Jarry Mander and Surveillance Capitalism (2018) by Robert W McChensy into Hindi. He has translated Story of Tools (2016) by Gorden Childe into Hindi and Punjabi. His translations of Azadi Mera Brand by Anuradha Beniwal and Notes From Underground by Dostoevsky were published in 2019. He has edited and translated articles on education under the title Dusra Adhyapak in 2020. His recent publication is titled as Anuvaad Adhyan (2022). He has translated Pedagogy of the Oppressed (2023) in Punjabi. He has completed the Indian Sahitya Academi Delhi commissioned book project on medieval Punjabi qissa writer Pilu in English. Besides, his articles are published in various newspapers and reputed journals like SAGE, Taylor & Francis, Indian Literature.