The following poem by Shreya Deshpande won Twenty Five Thousand Rupees in Wingword Poetry Competition 2019
Deshpande has written about a village in India that is said to be happy. It has won awards for cleanliness, there are toilets in every house and every house has gas cylinders. It looks happy. There is a school, a hospital and even the girls go to school in that village. It must be a happy village. But then the poet goes on to talk about the forbidden things in the village. She is informed of an old lady who was raped, but it is hushed and said that she remains quite because she has grown old. A madman tells her to go back to her city because there is a river in this village where 'dead bodies float'. She is informed of a couple that secretly got married in the temple near the river and then 'jumped in the river'. Nobody came for their funeral as they were both men. The poet says that nobody talks of it but under the clean streets of the village are buried the bodies of people killed in the riots. The poet ends sarcastically saying that it must be a happy village which does not speak of the issues.
The poem is exceptional in its portrayal of social issues such as rape, honor killing, gay couples, communal indifference and violence. It is satirical in nature calling the village happy despite its unfortunate social evils.
स्वतंत्र भारत में कहीं पर
एक छोटा सा गांव है
कहते है बड़ा ख़ुशहाल सा है।
गांव को स्वच्छता अभियान में पुरस्कार भी मिला है
गांव की सड़के हमेशा साफ़-सुथरी होती हैं
गांव में हर एक घर में शौचालय है और
हर एक घर में गैस पर खाना बनता है
गांव में स्कूल है, अस्पताल है,
लड़के तो क्या लड़कियाँ भी स्कूल जाती है
कहतें हैं बड़ा ख़ुशहाल सा गाँव है।
पर सुना है, की कुछ उड़ती-छुपती ख़बरें
गांव के अखबार में छपकर नहीं आती
गांव के एक कोने में एक दादी रहती है
सबसे बूढ़ी, सबसे प्यारी
छोटी पिंकी ने कल मुझे बताया के,
"सुना है पिछले साल दादी पर रेप हुआ था,
तबसे दादी किसीसे बात नहीं करती।"
पिंकी को घरवालोंसे बहोत डांट पड़ी
"ऐसा कुछ नहीं है मैडम जी,
बस बीमार रहती है बुढ़िया।”
कहतें है बड़ा ख़ुशहाल सा गांव है।
घांट के किनारे, मंदिर के पीछे एक पागल रहता है
कहते है,
कुछ भी बड़बड़ाता रहता है
पागल मुझसे आकर कहता है,
"मैडम जी, चले जाइये अपने शहर,
यहाँ नदी में लाशें तैरतीं हैं।”
पिछले महीने एक प्रेमी युगल ने
मंदिर में छुपकर शादी करने के बाद,
नदी में डूबकर जान दे दी थी
किसी ने अन्त्य संस्कार नहीं किया उनपर
दोनों लड़के जो थे
पर कहतें हैं बड़ा ख़ुशहाल सा गांव है।
कोई बोलता नहीं,
पर हर बच्चा जानता है,
की गांव की साफ़ सुथरी सडकोंके नीचे
हिन्दू-मुस्लिम दंगल में मारे गए लोगोंको दफनाया है
वैसे तो अब सब एकसाथ रहतें है,
दिवाली-ईद साथ साथ मनातें हैं
पर कभीकबार अंतरराष्ट्रीय घटनाओंकी खबर आते ही,
गर्मी के मौसम में,
हिन्दू और मुस्लिमोंके लिए
अलग-अलग पानी के टैंकर मंगवाएं जातें हैं
पर कहतें हैं बड़ा ख़ुशहाल सा गाँव है
सही कहते हैं।
Shreya Deshpande is the third prize winner of Wingword Poetry Competition 2019. She is an architect from Pune, in her early twenties, who loves to write. Architecture has given her the artistic perspective towards life, as well as many many sleepless nights. These two have to be some of the reasons why writing and poetry kickstarted for her. She strives to write for her inner expression and for the society as well. She has grown up reading about many oppressed lives in this society and she strongly believes that we should try and change the situation in our own ways, little by little. She has found that little way of writing.
How did winning the Wingword Poetry Prize affect your life?
The biggest change that this has caused in my life is people have started taking her poetry seriously. By people, I mainly want to address my family members, who used to think that poetry is only a hobby for me. Winning this prize has made them realize that this is not just something I do in my spare time. They now know that this is something that is very very important to me.