-Brian
Mendonça
When
Konkani poet Ramesh Veluskar passed away in October this year, it was difficult
to accept. Now, I could not look forward to his solid frame hovering over the
pages of time. Most of all I would miss the grasp of his handshake by which he
seemed to grip your very soul. A simple man, Veluskar had a fondness for the
nuances of sound. I place here a few
poems of his published in the Konkani literary magazine Jaag and elsewhere. In ‘Serenade’ he sees the chiming of a church bell bringing
peace and quietude to the weary devotee:
Serenade
Zhinjhin ghant
Zhinjhin
ghant
Zhinjhin
zata ghant
Sarga
mogan
Jezu
mogan
Zhinzhin
zata ghant.
(Jaag, December 2016)
In Swadeshi Gazali Veluskar laments that the freedom we have is actually a
chimera. The demon of destruction has seen the massacre of crores of trees
simply to appease the idea of progress. With that we have lost our connection
with nature and are uprooted from our moorings.
Swadeshi Gazali
Chimney
mhununk lagli
Asa
khobor tuka
Bharatbar
vikaseche raste
Rund
karpakhatir
Kitlesech
hazar karod
Zada
marun udoileli
Tancher
ravtele sevni, sukhni
Ani
hazarache tarache jiv
Je
zadar aapli jin jietele
Aani
amche
Paryavarniya
santulan sambaltale
Punn
amka maat
Jachi
sulus legit na
Tancho
khatmo kelo
Ani
amche arogyui
Dharamsankatan
ghatle
Tya
amchya swatantra mhuntlya
Manshak
he kallta kai na?
(Jaag, September 2018)
[Freedom story
The squirrel spoke up
I have news of you
Across India, in the name of
progress
100 crore trees
Have been cut and thrown out
To broaden roads.
The birds and species
That live in them
And thousand other forms of life
Who have been living their lives on
the tree
And who have been maintaining
The ecological balance.
But we do not value these
And have obliterated them.
By this we have put ourselves into a
crisis of action.
Is this freedom?]
A master of
imagery, Veluskar could evoke the nuances of a situation, investing nature with
a rare hybrid power. In Kal savlihi vell he describes the
mystery and menace of the approaching darkness on a deserted beach.
Kal Savlihi Vell
Kal
savlihi vell
Kal
savlench zaad.
Pois
suknyache val.
Zata
dongulayanchya aad.
Kal
savlehe velar
Mirio
ubarit raat
Gacha
zadani ghuspale
Tiche
kalkhache haath.
(From Morpakha, 1979)
[Darkness
descends on the beach
Darkness descends on the beach
Darkness descends on the trees.
Far away an arrow of birds
Dips away to yonder hill.
Darkness in its fullness
Tiptoes as a lady drawing up her
sari
And annexes the forest of trees
With her blackened hands.]
In his
collection Mati published as early as
1982, Veluskar’s tone took the voice of prophecy. All things finally dissolve
into earth. It seemed to also be a fitting epitaph.
Sonsaratli
sogli
Sundarai
Maya
Kimaya
Jaya
Ti
maati maya
Sasaya
[All the beauty
of the whole world
Illusion
Magic
Victory
Are all blended
Into
earth.]
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All translations by the author and Akalpita Desai,
Konkani writer, with whom I discussed Veluskar's work. Published in Gomantak Times Weekender, St. Inez, Goa on Sunday, 18 November 2018. Pix above of painting by Ramesh Veluskar on book cover of Umaltana.
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