In our penultimate iteration of this special feature on Indian poetry, we bring you the beautifully spare yet charged verse of Gurpreet, from the northern-most region of India, translated from the Punjabi by Monika Kumar.
The sold out house and that sparrow
In our sold out house
we are here for the last quarter of our stay
Why was this house sold
how come it was sold
it has to be explained to everyone
My wife, sister and younger brother
were packing things
and that’s how my mother is rather packing us all including herself
in a fist of courage
Father is getting the things loaded
affectionately
arranging things in a row
attentively
stretching his wisdom
to rise up to the need of the moment
that’s how he saves our heart
that’s how he saves his own heart
from the heartbreak
I give up on the clichéd reasoning
and mother’s wet eyes
father’s rambling heart
wife’s false smile
the flabbergasted face of my son
I try to console everyone including myself
no idea where I muster courage from
Bidding farewell to the sold out house
I discovered
the places, walls, doors and windows breathe too
I was reminded of the sparrow
the sparrow I wove many stories around
to narrate to my son Sukhan
It is the first time
we are living in a rented house
trying to befriend the strange
waiting for time to pass
to get ourselves to come to terms with it
Parents think of taking a dip in holy waters
to pray for clemency
I bow my head before the doorstep of Muse
And there is chirping
the sparrow
The same sparrow
Listen to the poem in Punjabi: The_sold_out_house_and_that_sparrow