One day,
we may be stopped in our tracks by a maniacal mob…
… and be confronted with the Questions…
“what’s your religion?
Same as ours?
Or different like theirs?”
And our lives will depend
… on our answers
… and their religion!
We must ask ourselves whether we have learnt any lessons from the numerous killings, brutal attacks and rapist rioting, born of divisive religious fanaticism…
Sunday 29 June, 2008
Saturday 21 June, 2008
Thoughts of Mining Terrorists
Good! The politician has raised the scare
And proclaimed our villages unsafe out there
The issues are not as simple as they look
These villagers are terrorists and crooks
That farmer insists that we cannot transgress
Surely he is an obstacle to our true progress
The land may be his, but the lease is mine
How dare he say, “To hell with the MINE”
Our farmers, our villagers are no longer the same
They are terrorists playing a deadly game
They are moving ahead to breach our peace
Do something now, do not suffer the siege
The plot it thickens and so does the stink
Especially that guy who tells them to think
He is training them to use dangerous arms
If they take to thinking, we will be forced to alms
They who think are the most dangerous
Their questions are the most furious
But questions are not the only artillery
They have cameras too in their weaponry
Worse they have lost all sense of shame
They are giving our nation a bad name
Screaming across the world wide web
About things which are best left unsaid
They are dangerous and we have to act with speed
Their increasing solidarity is precarious indeed
Round them up and expose their terrorist connection
Every arm that is raised has a weapon-association
People are yet to hear what that teacher said
That mining terrorism will have everyone dead
Beat them at their own game and spread the news
That they share the distant terrorist’s views
Throw them behind bars and black them out
We must finally erase every rebellious shout
The gullible rest will swallow our nationalist con
With greater strength our Mining terrorism shall go on!
- Pravin Sabnis (20 June 2008)
Written to counter the malicious charge of the politicians that Naxalites are part of the growing solidarity of Goans against fraudulent Mining that is trampling human rights and the laws of the land due to the patronage of the conniving administration. Researcher-activist Seby Rodrigues, farmer Rama Velip, teacher Ramesh Gauns and their determined tribe cannot be demolished by deceitful labeling by the agents of Mining Terrorism
And proclaimed our villages unsafe out there
The issues are not as simple as they look
These villagers are terrorists and crooks
That farmer insists that we cannot transgress
Surely he is an obstacle to our true progress
The land may be his, but the lease is mine
How dare he say, “To hell with the MINE”
Our farmers, our villagers are no longer the same
They are terrorists playing a deadly game
They are moving ahead to breach our peace
Do something now, do not suffer the siege
The plot it thickens and so does the stink
Especially that guy who tells them to think
He is training them to use dangerous arms
If they take to thinking, we will be forced to alms
They who think are the most dangerous
Their questions are the most furious
But questions are not the only artillery
They have cameras too in their weaponry
Worse they have lost all sense of shame
They are giving our nation a bad name
Screaming across the world wide web
About things which are best left unsaid
They are dangerous and we have to act with speed
Their increasing solidarity is precarious indeed
Round them up and expose their terrorist connection
Every arm that is raised has a weapon-association
People are yet to hear what that teacher said
That mining terrorism will have everyone dead
Beat them at their own game and spread the news
That they share the distant terrorist’s views
Throw them behind bars and black them out
We must finally erase every rebellious shout
The gullible rest will swallow our nationalist con
With greater strength our Mining terrorism shall go on!
- Pravin Sabnis (20 June 2008)
Written to counter the malicious charge of the politicians that Naxalites are part of the growing solidarity of Goans against fraudulent Mining that is trampling human rights and the laws of the land due to the patronage of the conniving administration. Researcher-activist Seby Rodrigues, farmer Rama Velip, teacher Ramesh Gauns and their determined tribe cannot be demolished by deceitful labeling by the agents of Mining Terrorism
Sunday 4 May, 2008
itna bhi mat rulaye
here is my first Hindi verse written at the western Consultation on SEZs (it was inspired by a video and spirited presentation of the fight against SEZs in Gujarat):
KAFAN
itna bhi mat rulaye, ki aasoon sukh jaye...
aur sujhi huyi ankhon se lava beh jaye...
itna bhi mat sataye, ki har path bandh ho jaye...
aur sar pe kafan bandhne ka vikalp bach jaye !
the english translation would be
(Kafan-shroud)
-Pravin Sabnis
25 April 2008, Pune
KAFAN
itna bhi mat rulaye, ki aasoon sukh jaye...
aur sujhi huyi ankhon se lava beh jaye...
itna bhi mat sataye, ki har path bandh ho jaye...
aur sar pe kafan bandhne ka vikalp bach jaye !
the english translation would be
SHROUD
Do not make me cry so… lest my tears turn dry...
it is lava that will flow from the swollen eye...
Do not trouble me so…
that each road turns a
dead end
and a shroud draped
on my head is the only
option to fend!
(Kafan-shroud)
-Pravin Sabnis
25 April 2008, Pune
Saturday 5 April, 2008
ME & MINE
I woke up in a different age...
I woke up in shock and rage...
Ten years further to today...
My village had gone astray...
It was like a fairy tale all gone wrong...
Where cacophony posed as a song...
Gone were the fields that were mine...
My land, my village was just a MINE!
I went to the authorities to complain
Hoping for justice to relieve my pain...
They asked me to prove my citizenship
Without my village, how could I exist?
I said forget about me, have some shame...
What about the villains and their devious game?
First they paused and then laughed aloud...
“It was you who contributed to the deadly shroud”
“How me?” I cried at the twist in the tale
My land I had never put up for sale...
When they came to me, I had said a clear NO
For me my land was my life, how could I let go?
They looked at me and laughed once again
“He thought it was never going to be his pain
Since the lease did not cover his land
He thought the problem was not his to fend”
“They first mined elsewhere, but he said that land is not mine
Then they mined closer, and he said that land is not mine
Then they mined next door, yet he said that land is not mine
And now look how he protests when his land is a MINE”.
To the dissonance of their accusing mirth
I woke up from the nightmare’s girth
But the future continued to resonate in my ears
Urging me not to ignore the approaching fears
It was futile to think of me and what’s mine
And ignore the killing moves of the MINE
For it is not an activity, it is really an attitude
That seeks to crush rights, dignity and aptitude
It is all about the important lesson
A truth that can never go out of fashion
We must go beyond what is “me and mine”
It is not just about what’s mine and thine
Lest our future is buried under the remains
Let’s consolidate solidarity’s gains
Let’s make the resolve to connect together
Instead of “Me and mine”, “we and ours” is better
Without the sweat of solidarity, community cannot shine
“We and ours” can defeat the onslaught of the MINE
Let’s together defeat the abusive merchants of dirt
Let’s ensure that green remains our valley and earth
Pravin Sabnis
4 April 2008, Goa
I woke up in shock and rage...
Ten years further to today...
My village had gone astray...
It was like a fairy tale all gone wrong...
Where cacophony posed as a song...
Gone were the fields that were mine...
My land, my village was just a MINE!
I went to the authorities to complain
Hoping for justice to relieve my pain...
They asked me to prove my citizenship
Without my village, how could I exist?
I said forget about me, have some shame...
What about the villains and their devious game?
First they paused and then laughed aloud...
“It was you who contributed to the deadly shroud”
“How me?” I cried at the twist in the tale
My land I had never put up for sale...
When they came to me, I had said a clear NO
For me my land was my life, how could I let go?
They looked at me and laughed once again
“He thought it was never going to be his pain
Since the lease did not cover his land
He thought the problem was not his to fend”
“They first mined elsewhere, but he said that land is not mine
Then they mined closer, and he said that land is not mine
Then they mined next door, yet he said that land is not mine
And now look how he protests when his land is a MINE”.
To the dissonance of their accusing mirth
I woke up from the nightmare’s girth
But the future continued to resonate in my ears
Urging me not to ignore the approaching fears
It was futile to think of me and what’s mine
And ignore the killing moves of the MINE
For it is not an activity, it is really an attitude
That seeks to crush rights, dignity and aptitude
It is all about the important lesson
A truth that can never go out of fashion
We must go beyond what is “me and mine”
It is not just about what’s mine and thine
Lest our future is buried under the remains
Let’s consolidate solidarity’s gains
Let’s make the resolve to connect together
Instead of “Me and mine”, “we and ours” is better
Without the sweat of solidarity, community cannot shine
“We and ours” can defeat the onslaught of the MINE
Let’s together defeat the abusive merchants of dirt
Let’s ensure that green remains our valley and earth
Pravin Sabnis
4 April 2008, Goa
Monday 4 February, 2008
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