Ahuti
Written: 2058 vikram samvat [2001];
Original Title: Nepaal-Amerikaa Ekspres;
Translated: from the Nepali by Mary Des Chene;
Transcribed: for marxists.org August, 2002.
Nepal-Amerika Express
just lifted off
carrying a bushelful
of my Nepali heart
Jam-packed with travellers
by way of Delhi, London
destination Washington
arrives in a flash
returns to my land.
Hop on anyplace
Birtamod, Golbazar, Mahendranagar, Kathmandu
Packed with the stuff of many homes,
many minds
Nepal-Amerika Express
just lifted off
carrying a bushelful
of my Nepaliness
Jomolongmo crammed
into Sagarmatha's trunk
Defenseless Newar 'Maa'
Magar 'Moi'
Kirant 'Yamaa'
Maithil 'Mai'
tucked inside the 'Aamaa' palanquin
Rodi, Deuda, Dhaan
folk dances squashed
in overflowing baskets
Accents spill over
from shoulder-poled loads
Dark of night, dusk or dawn
morning noon and night
we're packing load after load
in the cargo hold
of Nepal-Amerika Express
And like the lifeless portrait of a beggar
sordid spectacle in the making
in a London museum
the countless facets of my dwelling place.
On every return
Nepal-Amerika Express
descending by day upon my home
'Mount Ebharest', 'Mommy' and 'Dyaddy'
stepping off the Express by night
along with multinational Pipalment Companies
'Dance Clubs' and 'Break Dances'
'Nyuj' for reporters
'Vyujharu' for experts
'Intartainment' for teens
'Dokumentharu' for leaders!
With nary a cry
without hesitation
without resistance
not even pausing
to cleanse the taint
of spirit's demise
so proudly 'loading'
upon Nepal-Amerika Express
all the fragrant aromas
all the identities
that fill our hearts and souls
we go on creating
a parasite country
composing, without prejudice
with national consensus
the history
of our own death
Are we waging
an ongoing 'mubhment'
of national resistance?
And so, step by step
to ashes
my entire identity
the soul and being
of my land
Look there ...
Nepal-Amerika Express about to lift off
again
carrying a bushelful
of Nepali heart
by way of Delhi, London
destination Washington.
______________
* Jomolongmo: name of Sagarmatha in Tibetan and many Tibeto-Burman languages of Nepal. Jomolongmo/Sagarmatha in turn renamed 'Mount Everest' by English speakers.
Aamaa: the word for 'mother' in Nepali, the official and dominant national language of Nepal. Newari, Magar, Kirant, Maithili: a few of the many minority nationality languages of Nepal.
'-haru': plural suffix in Nepali. e.g., 'vyujharu' = views.