: Remembering Avtar Singh Pash on his Death Anniversary #IndiaNEWSAll #History Avtar Singh Sandhu, popularly known as Pash was born in the village of Talwandi Salem in Jalandhar, Punjab, on September

@IndiaNEWS

Posted in: #IndiaNEWSAll #History

Remembering Avtar Singh Pash on his Death Anniversary #IndiaNEWSAll #History
Avtar Singh Sandhu, popularly known as Pash was born in the village of Talwandi Salem in Jalandhar, Punjab, on September 9, 1950. Pash’s poetry always had political overtones akin to the verses of poets such as Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Bertolt Brecht, Yiannis Ritsos, and Mahmoud Darwish. Pash was against religious fanaticism and strongly criticised the authoritarian nature of the state. He was killed by Khalistani militants on March 23, 1988 in New Delhi. Decades after his death Pash’s ideas still reverberate to the contemporary socio-political milieu.  
With the increasing communal tensions in the country, it is timely to remember the revolutionary spirit of Pash.  
Satyam Tiwari is a theatre actor, writer, a passionate orator of poetry and editor currently working with Newsclick. in. recites two of Pash’s poetry.  

Ghaas (Grass)
Image courtesy: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

I am like grass
you can chop me mow me down
 but I shall sprout again
 grow and bounce back

 you can obliterate my signposts
 you can bomb the Universities
 reduce the hostels to rubble
 you may scorch the slums
 but you cannot erase my identity
 because I am like grass
 I will sprout again
 and my mantle shall cover everything

 you may bomb Banga
 you can destroy Sangrur
 and reduce the whole district of Ludhiana   to ashes
 but it will be only a matter of time
 two years ten years
 before my green mantle covers everything   again

 I will become a vast green jungle
 the green jungle of Barnala
 where tourists will visit me
 visit my green jungle
 because I am like grass
 you can chop me
 you can mow down
 but I  will sprout again
 and cover everything

(Translation courtesy: mrityunjaykumarkushwaha. blogspot. com/2018/12/i-am-like-grass-full-poem-pdf-by-pash. html?m=1)

Sab ton Khatarnak (The Most Dangerous)
Joseph Wright (Wright of Derby) / Image courtesy: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The most dangerous occurrence is not a robbery of hard work,
The most horrifying act is not torture by the police,
A merger of betrayal and greed is not the most dangerous.
To be trapped while asleep is undoubtedly miserable,
To be buried under the silence is undoubtedly miserable,
But it is still not the most dangerous.
To remain silent in the noise of corruption is undoubtedly miserable,
Reading covertly under the light of a firefly is undoubtedly miserable,
But it is still not the most dangerous.
The most dangerous deed is to be filled with dead silence,
Not feeling any agony against the unjust and bearing it all.
Getting trapped in the routine of running from home to work and from work to home,
The most dangerous accident is the death of our dreams.

Intraday stocks under 50 NSE India Twitter of India

Vote Up Vote Down

Login to post a comment!