Alternative Voice

She is busy colouring her thoughts The fingers restlessly Move across the drawings On the card board paper. “What is the colour of the sun?” she fumbles– Yellow, orange, or crimson red– Who knows it? The colour of the sun? She takes a colouring pencil, and before she fills in The colour, she tries to sharpen the tip of the pencil; The tip breaks again and again... And it only sharpens her nerves. Irritated, confused, She raises her head, and slowly, turns it a little right, And gives a puzzled look at me, Perhaps, at my non-cooperation. Her eyes Are enough to tell what she feels About me; But I have never coloured A sun, you know! I have never felt it closely To know its colours. At times, I have hated the irresistible heat, or Its absence too. But colours? Does the sun have a colour at all? With my little daughter, the sun smiles, and how Do I tell what colour is the smile? It’s raining heavily outside, and inside My conscien...

In her youthful fancy she plucked the sun from the sky. Filled in with immense passion for this young morning sun, she held it tight to her bosom and felt its warmth skin to skin. How long one can surrender? The sun had its promise to the sky To come back soon! But unwilling to share the sun with anyone else, she wrapped the sun carefully with her soft red shawl and quietly hid it in a corner of her own memory-shelf. And now, the sun no more shines in the sky to show the world how happy she is! (From Of Nepalese Clay Issue   19)

(Korean Translation of my poem जुत्ता र पाईतालहरु ) 신발과 발바닥 께서브 시그델 지음 신발의 좁은 구석에서 싫은 냄새가 나고 목적지에 이르고 싶은 발바닥 . 발바닥의 의지로 가고 싶지 않아도 발바닥의 보호구가 돼서 천천히 가고 있는 신발들 . 신발은 닳아지지만 피곤해하진 않아 다만 신발이 발바닥을 피곤하게 할뿐 피곤한 발바닥 쉬고 싶지만 포기하지 않아 차라리 신발을 바꿀지언정.

कसैले कहिल्यै नसम्झिएको एउटा चिसो, ढुसी लागेको, अध्याँरो कोठाभित्र फोक्सो फुलाएर घिट्घिटि सास फेरिरहेको मान्छेको सपनबाट घाम चोरेर आफ्नै नाभिमा अग्लिएको सिटि कम्प्लेक्सको तेह्रौ तलाको वाइन बारमा न्यानो पिइरहेको शहरलाई नै मैले सोधेँ– यो शहर कसको हो ? यो शहरमा कसैलाई नाम र काम सोध्नु हुँदैन सम्पत्ति र स्वामित्व खोज्नु हुँदैन प्रश्नहरुले शहरका भत्किएका साँघुरा सडकहरुमा गर्मी ह्वात्त बढाउँछ । त्यसबेला, सिङ्गै शहरलाई अलिकति चिस्याउने चिज चाहिन्छ । अनि, कसैले कहिल्यै नसम्झिएको त्यहि चिसो, ढुसी लागेको अध्याँरो कोठाभित्र फोक्सो फुलाएर घिट्घिटि सास फेरिरहेको मान्छेको सपनबाट शितलता चोरेर आफ्नै छातीमा अग्लिएको सिटि कम्प्लेक्सको तेह्रौ तलाको वाइन बारमा बरफका क्यूब मिसाएर चिसो वियरसँग पिउँछ त्यो प्रश्न पनि यो शहर ।

केही हाइकु      १ देश–जनता चेसवोर्डका गोटी लौ राजनीति ।      २ दमकल छ तर कसै निभ्दैन मनको आगो ।      ३ भोकको आगो बलिचढेका बोका ईश्वर पूजा ।      ४ उदार छ ऊ सधैं बाँडिरहन्छ स्वार्थको पोको ।      ५ श्रीमती खोज्न के पो गरेन होला बाल ब्रम्हचारी । English Translation

केशव सिग्देलसँगको अन्तरङ्ग भलाकुसारी अन्तरङ्ग राष्ट्रिय साप्ताहिकका लागि नवराज पहाडीले गरेको कुराकानी (अन्तरङ्ग राष्ट्रिय साप्ताहिकको वर्ष– २१, अक– २० मा ०६९ माघ ११ गते प्रकाशित ।) अन्तरङ्ग– हिजोआज साहित्यका के कस्ता काममा व्यस्त हुनुहुन्छ ? सिग्देल– पढाउने काम नित्य चलिरहेको छ । त्यसपछिको समय साहित्यिक संस्थाहरुको क्रियाकलापहरुलाई खर्चने गरेको छु । बेलुका वा फुर्सद भएको अन्य समयमा लेख्ने समय निकाल्छु । अहिले म मेरा केही साथीहरुसंग मिलेर नेपाली कविताको अंग्रेजी अनुवाद पनि गरिरहेको छु । साहित्यिक पत्रिका सम्पादनको काम पनि सगँसगँै चलिरहेको हुन्छ । राजनीतिक परिवर्तनपछि पनि नागरिक अधिकार सुनिश्चित हुन नसकेको अवस्था छ । दण्डहीनतालाई राज्यले आफैं प्रस्रय दिइरहेको अवस्था छ । सचेत नागरिकको रुपमा चुपचाप बस्न नसकिँदोरहेछ । मानवअधिकार सम्बन्धि धर्ना जुलुसहरुमा पनि सहभागी भइरहन्छु । धेरैतिरको संलग्नताले मेरो अध्ययन र लेखनलाई वाधा पुगेको छ भन्ने लागेर हिजो आज केही जिम्मेवारीहरुबाट मुक्त हुने प्रयास गरिरहेको छु । व्यक्तिगत सन्तुष्टि या सामाजिक उत्तरदायित्व के प्राथमिक कुरा हो भन्ने द्व...

... As we read it, poetry has always taken up causes. Either it be Rabindara Nath Tagore (from India) or Kaji Nazrul Islam (from Bangladesh) or Mahakavi Devkota (from Nepal), they have all written for social and political changes. Similarly, in the West, Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost,’ Marvell’s ‘An Horatian Ode upon Cromwell’s Return to Ireland’ and Blake’s ‘London’ are intensely political poems. Wordsworth, Shelley and Byron all responded to revolutions abroad and upheavals at home. In Eastern Europe and South America, poetry has been synonymous with resistance to state or military oppression. In our own time, close to home, poets have raised their voices to protest against injustice. The 2006 janaandolan of Nepal is a case in point where poetry was a very instrumental medium to galvanize people in the street for the protest against monarchy... Click the link    Poetry and Politics   to read the full article. (Source:The Independent published from Bangladesh on 12 Jan...