On the Last Day of the Earth in Imphal
A translation of Laishram Samarendra’s Imphalda Prithivigi Aroiba Numitta from the collection, Khul Amagi Wari, published in 1985. The best part of Samarendra’s poems is his Manipuri colloquial style but it is difficult to maintain it per se in this translation.
Just as we have expected
This time it is 100%ly sure
It is the end of the world.
The Earth will be gone before long.
Will all be lost, all the truth
And all the beauty and all the reality
—Will all be truly gone
—Will all be lost:
All the man-made marvels and all the natural wonders,
All the beautiful brooks and rivers and woods and lakes and lilies
All the beautiful cities and buildings and the Taj Mahal
All the awesomesauce verses of Shakespeare and Kalidas;
Oh, this Earth is condemned, the places pointless
Wisdom, worthless; and religions and truth and nonviolence all useless
Worthless and useless knowledge and science and thoughts of Buddha,
The line between truth and falsehood will disappear.
Truth–untruth and real–unreal; in any case
The world will be gone tomorrow.
My house, my drawing room
My sofa, my dining table
My terrace, my corridor, my garden
My lockers, refrigerators, stainless steel utensils
My bronze items from Tanjore;
My Japanese camera, my bank balance
My wife, my kid, my son Tomba, though he did nothing
My wife, my kid, my money, my bank balance.
Just as in the Japanese bombing of Imphal
The fire engulfs Imphal
Some people are fleeing and others staying back
The convicts are pulling down the prison
The Khwairamband Market is damaged and the strong steal,
Death is just a destiny and I need not be frightened.
In hazy black the smoke swirls above government offices
In the fire are the piles of cash books and registers and ledgers
The cashiers and the clerks have had a happy life
Only the ignorant are naïve and the poor only poorer
And some people they flee the city while the engulfing smoke further spreads
And others they are plundering, robbing and never getting enough.
Some people did not flee in the Seven Years’ Devastation,
Some people did not flee in the Japan War,
And some people are not fleeing on this last day on Earth!
The timid shut their doors and hide
The courageous scuttle helter-skelter
Everyone's in a whirlpool of motion
And the elected representatives appropriate the land and shops,
And the election losers run around and borrow from other people
And grants are taken, the loans as well;
And scholars have shown up with big bags of books,
The deprived snatch and seize and steal,
Hither and thither the people are running
Conscious of nothing, and unconscious of their bare bodies
And they do not see each other, one does not know the other;
Meanwhile an old man, wobbly and running, he has been run over by a car
Shopkeepers are gazing and laughing
And four men are assaulting a girl
And the girl has been humiliated in the open
And there is no one is to help;
And people are still running for their lives in all directions
And the sun is waiting to set—and all we have is this one day.
—concluded.
This time it is 100%ly sure
It is the end of the world.
To the Mother Divine who abides in all beings as peace
Salutations to Thee, Mother Divine
To the Mother Divine who abides in all beings as contentment
Salutations to Thee, Mother Divine
The Earth will be gone before long.
Will all be lost, all the truth
And all the beauty and all the reality
—Will all be truly gone
—Will all be lost:
All the man-made marvels and all the natural wonders,
All the beautiful brooks and rivers and woods and lakes and lilies
All the beautiful cities and buildings and the Taj Mahal
All the awesomesauce verses of Shakespeare and Kalidas;
Oh, this Earth is condemned, the places pointless
Wisdom, worthless; and religions and truth and nonviolence all useless
Worthless and useless knowledge and science and thoughts of Buddha,
The line between truth and falsehood will disappear.
Truth–untruth and real–unreal; in any case
The world will be gone tomorrow.
My house, my drawing room
My sofa, my dining table
My terrace, my corridor, my garden
My lockers, refrigerators, stainless steel utensils
My bronze items from Tanjore;
My Japanese camera, my bank balance
My wife, my kid, my son Tomba, though he did nothing
My wife, my kid, my money, my bank balance.
Just as in the Japanese bombing of Imphal
The fire engulfs Imphal
Some people are fleeing and others staying back
The convicts are pulling down the prison
The Khwairamband Market is damaged and the strong steal,
Death is just a destiny and I need not be frightened.
In hazy black the smoke swirls above government offices
In the fire are the piles of cash books and registers and ledgers
The cashiers and the clerks have had a happy life
Only the ignorant are naïve and the poor only poorer
And some people they flee the city while the engulfing smoke further spreads
And others they are plundering, robbing and never getting enough.
Some people did not flee in the Seven Years’ Devastation,
Some people did not flee in the Japan War,
And some people are not fleeing on this last day on Earth!
The timid shut their doors and hide
The courageous scuttle helter-skelter
Everyone's in a whirlpool of motion
And the elected representatives appropriate the land and shops,
And the election losers run around and borrow from other people
And grants are taken, the loans as well;
And scholars have shown up with big bags of books,
The deprived snatch and seize and steal,
Hither and thither the people are running
Conscious of nothing, and unconscious of their bare bodies
And they do not see each other, one does not know the other;
Meanwhile an old man, wobbly and running, he has been run over by a car
Shopkeepers are gazing and laughing
And four men are assaulting a girl
And the girl has been humiliated in the open
And there is no one is to help;
And people are still running for their lives in all directions
And the sun is waiting to set—and all we have is this one day.
To the Mother Divine who abides in all beings as destruction
Salutations to Thee, Mother Divine
To the Mother Divine who abides in all beings as horror
Salutations to Thee, Mother Divine
—concluded.
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