Poem by Jdr. Jernail Singh Anand
Jernail Singh Anand, the author of 150 plus books, is the receipent of the Charter of Morava, the highest Serbian International Award in Creativity, at the 60th Belgrade International Writers Meeting . His name was engraved in the Poets' Rock in Serbia, a rare honour for an Indian author. He already holds The Franz Kafka Literature Prize, Maxim Gorky International Literary Award, Cross of Peace, and Cross of Literature (Italy) awards. Dr Anand is Founder Chairperson of the International Academy of Ethics, and an Honorary Member of the Association of Serbian Writers, Belgrade. He is Prof Emeritus in Indian Literature at The European Institute of the Roma Studies and Research Belgrade. Dr Anand is credited with the theory of Bio-text (critical theory). His work has been translated into more than twenty world languages. Author of 9 epics which are regarded as modern classics, Anand has organized 5 International Literary Conferences.
THE ICU OF HISTORY (English)
The most proud portion in a house
Is the bed room,
Followed by the toiletry,
The kitchen
Drawing room
And at the end,
If you like,
I may add the humblest of all
The wash room.
The most prominent portion
Of a human body is the forehead
Followed by the heart
Stomach, arm, legs
Come later
And I you wish, may I add
The excretary parts.
The humblest parts
Which nobody wants to see.
Nor talk about
Yes, when it comes to love
And reproduction,
The prime position shifts
To the face, the legs
And the spell binding
Regions of human body
Male and female.
Humanity has paid scant attention
To humbler parts of the body
Kept them covered
And out of common conversation
Yet, how important they are
Just imagine if the exit
Of a body is clogged?
What about the humbler parts
Of society?
About whom no one talks.
Nor bothers?
And they are kept in the darker zone, the chawls?
Can your machines build
High rise buildings
If they are not there to load
And unload the cranes?
People who help the civilization
Move on its feet
Are the men thrown into the margins
No scriptures talk about them.
If they stop functioning
Society will have convulsions.
In fact, the society will be
In the ICU of history.
The humbler parts of the body
And of the society
Are no less important
And deserve equal care and respect
Ignore them at your peril.
In fact, these you consider humbler
Are the pride of creation,
Which depends on them.
Just remember, every worm, it may have
A mouth or not, but it doth have an exit.
............................................................
Prepared Angela Kosta writer, poet, essayist, literary critic, editor, translator, journalist