They would turn into stone, never move again, This quality, which only a true revolutionary could possess, seeped through his poems. Humiliated by society and the police, he nonetheless remained grounded in his search for love and truth. Nurtured as a poet during the Naxalite movement in Punjab, Lal Singh Dil’s poetic imagination is solely held together by the needle and thread of his experiences, of being born and raised a Dalit.ĭil was always a truth seeker. The legacy of Lal Singh Dil, Punjab's 'Poet of the Revolution' Then lawns will not only exist in palaces We will grow the same roses in our backyards Originally written in Punjabi and recently translated into English by Rajinder Azad, what makes Days Will Come Back significant is not only its status as the first Dalit Punjabi poetry collection to be translated in English, but also the literary imagination it offers indeed it changes the very way in which we look at the idea of Punjab.ĭays Will Come Back introduces us to the value of the labour of Dalits in Punjab it makes clear their role in the history of the nation, it details the aesthetics of their love and labour, their dreams and aspirations, and how crucial their imaginations were, in planting the seed of beauty in a land that has internalised the cruelty of caste. To read Kamal Dev Pall’s poetry collection Days Will Come Back, is to enter a Punjab which most of us would have hardly imagined. Though he has been writing for three decades, it was only in 2018 that his poems were translated into English and published as Broken Man: In Search of Homeland by Panther’s Paw Publication. Another defining quality of his poetry is its ability to showcase that which goes unnoticed by our eyes. His poetry depicts the complexities of lives around us in an uncomplicated manner.Ī poet and acclaimed translator, Yashwant has numerous poetry collections in Marathi to his name, all of which have been received well and became popular among readers of poetry as well as people associated with the anti-caste movement. Loknath Yashwant presents the brutality of the caste system in simple yet profound verses.

The eyes of Gawai brothers, Shambuka’s head,Įklavya’s thumb, Ramdasa’s hammered penis

They too wish to have a share in our chorus The poems also comment on the hypocrisy of culture and the famine in Maharashtra, which was not a theme in the works of Savarna writers. The poems in this collection speak of the community’s everyday life, their struggles, their agonies – and their hope amidst it all, as the purveyors of Babasaheb’s legacy. Blockade (Nakebandi in Marathi) embodies a new vision adopted by the Dalits.

Valmiki joothan