ಹೆಣ್ಣು ಮನುಷ್ಯಳಲ್ಲ - Women are not humans

ಹೆಣ್ಣು ಮನುಷ್ಯಳಲ್ಲ
ಯೋನಿಯೊಂದಿಗೆ ಹುಟ್ಟಿದ ಒಂದೇ ಕಾರಣಕ್ಕೆ
ಬದುಕು ಪಂಜರವಾಗಿ
ಅತ್ಯಾಚಾರವೇ ಹಾಡಾಗಿ
ದಿನಾ ಸಾಯುವ ಹೆಣ್ಣು ಮನುಷ್ಯಳಲ್ಲ

ಮನೆಯ ಗೌರವ, ಜಾತಿಯ ಗೌರವ
ಹೆಚ್ಚಾದರೆ ಹಳ್ಳಿ, ತಾಲ್ಲೂಕು, ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯದ್ದೂ
ಎಲ್ಲ ಗೌರವವ ಅವಳ ಯೋನಿಯಲಿಟ್ಟು
ಹೆದರುತ್ತಲೇ ಓಡಾಡಬೇಕಾಗಿರುವ
ಹೆಣ್ಣು ಮನುಷ್ಯಳಲ್ಲ

ಹೆಣ್ಣು ಪ್ರ‍ಾಣಿಯೂ ಅಲ್ಲ
ಕುರಿ, ಕೋಳಿ ಕಡಿಯುವಾಗ
ಅದರ ಲಿಂಗ ನೋಡುವುದಿಲ್ಲ
ಯೋನಿಗೆ ಕಬ್ಬಿಣ ತುರುಕುವುದಿಲ್ಲ
ದಿನಗಟ್ಟಲೆ ಬಂಧಿಸಿ ಅತ್ಯಾಚಾರ ಮಾಡುವುದಿಲ್ಲ
ಹಸುವಿನ ಮಾತಂತೂ ಬಿಟ್ಟೇಬಿಡಿ
ಕೊಂದರೆ ಸಾವು ಕಾದಿದ್ದೇ
ಕೆಲವೊಮ್ಮೆ, ಕೊಲ್ಲದಿದ್ದರೂ
"ಗೋ ರಕ್ಷಣೆ"ಯಿದೆ, ಸ್ತ್ರೀಗಿಲ್ಲ
ಹೆಣ್ಣು ಮನುಷ್ಯಳಲ್ಲ

ಹೆಣ್ಣು ಮರ, ಗಿಡವೂ ಅಲ್ಲ
ಕಾಡು ಕಡಿದರೆ ಜೈಲು
ಲಿಂಗ ತಾರತಮ್ಯವಿಲ್ಲ
ಗ್ಲೊಬಲ್ ವಾರ್ಮಿಂಗ್
ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಗೊತ್ತಿರುವ ಸತ್ಯ
ಹೆಣ್ಣು ಮನುಷ್ಯಳಲ್ಲ
ಪ್ರಾಣಿಯೂ, ಮರ ಗಿಡವೂ ಅಲ್ಲ

ಗಂಡಿನ ಶಿಶ್ನಕ್ಕೆ ಹೆದರುತ್ತಾ
ಯೋನಿಯ ಇರುವಿಕೆಗೆ ಬೆದರುತ್ತಾ
ಹುಟ್ಟಿನಿಂದ ಸಾಯುವವರೆಗೆ
ತನ್ನ ಇರುವನ್ನೇ ಮುಚ್ಚಿಟ್ಟು ಬದುಕುತ್ತಾ
ಸುಲಭಕ್ಕೆ "ಮರ್ಯಾದೆ" ತೆಗೆಯಬಹುದಾದ
ಸುಲಭಕ್ಕೆ ಸಾಯಬಹುದಾದ
ಹೆಣ್ಣು ಮನುಷ್ಯಳಲ್ಲ

ಅವಳು ವಸ್ತುವಾ? ಆಯುಧವಾ? ಅಥವಾ ಏನೂ ಅಲ್ಲವಾ?

ಹೆಣ್ಣನ್ನು ಈ ಮಟ್ಟಕ್ಕೆ ಇಳಿಸಿರುವ
ಮತ್ತೆಲ್ಲರೂ, ಈ ಸಮಾಜಕೂಡ
ಮನುಷ್ಯರದಲ್ಲ
ಅದ್ಯಾರದ್ದೋ, ನನಗೆ ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ

ಭಾಶೇ

Women, not human
Cursed with a vagina
Life is prison
Abuse, our song
Crushed everyday to death
Women are not humans

Respect of the family, caste,
At times, village, taluk, districts too
Is hidden in our vaginas
We walk with fear
Women are not humans

Women are not animals either
Before you butcher a chicken or goat
Gender is not looked at
No iron rod is inserted into the vagina
Neither are they raped everyday
Forget about cows
Death is imminent if you kill one
At times even if you don’t
Cows are protected, women are not
Women are not humans

Women are not plants and trees either
Permits and jail, process involved
No gender to look at
Global warming
Inevitable truth
Women are not humans
Not animals, not plants or trees

Terrified of a man’s penis
Terrified of having a vagina
Hiding her existence
From birth to death
Loses “respect” easily
Loses life easily
Women are not humans

Is she an object? A weapon? Or “nothing”?

The society and everyone else who
Have brought women to this level
Are also not humans
I don’t know what they are!

BhaShe

I want to fix my country for the next generation

There was a time when I was in my own bubble and did not care about the world. I did my work, got paid, paid my taxes and that is all that mattered. I had money in my account and I was happy.
Today, I am a freelancer, taking a break, not working full time or earning like I used to, but I am aware of some of what is happening around me and I am bothered. I am frustrated, angry and concerned. And I do not want to keep quiet about it.

There was a time when our politicians looted our country. They have taken away crores and crores of tax payers’ money and we have done nothing about it. Black money, white money, foreign currency, gold, in many forms they have stored all our resources away in their lockers and we have done nothing about it. Scandal after scandal we Indians and the country has been looted and we have done nothing about it.

Now, it looks like the time for corporate giants to do so. Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, - I don’t know how big this list will go - are looting our country, our banks. Though, I do not have a clear understanding of how tax payers will be affected by this loot, I don’t find anyone else but tax payers who have to bear the burden.
Why is this happening in my country, why? And why are we keeping quiet about it? And more importantly do we know what we can do and what we should do? How do we work towards fixing this? How to get the money back and restoring some form of justice? I don’t know. This is one side to the problem.

The other side is, not letting such cases happen in the future. How do we do that? The other day, in a conversation with my father in law, he mentioned something about the loss of sense of pride. I understand it better today, looking at the number of people who have sold their souls for money. If we were to have a culture of pride in self, maybe we could turn out to be incorruptible?

This brings me to my idea of a sense of equality. Whether I am rich or not, educated or not, well to do or not, employed or not, if I have a sense of equality that I do not consider myself above or below anyone for whatever they may or may not have, then too, I can be incorruptible, right?

I believe in the idea of making money, creating jobs, growing economy and all that along with saving the environment and not exploiting any form of resources. I believe in working hard and not copying, growing and not pulling someone down, and being hopeful and not a cynic. I believe in the idea of having a sense of equality and the desire to work my way up the ladder the right way. Having a sense of pride whether I go up or not, whether I achieve what I aimed for or not. I believe in the idea of having a sense of contentment, using the term “enough” in life and applying it more often than not. I believe in having a sense of purpose that is bigger than self and bigger than my personal gain. I believe in feeling part of community and therefore having an identity that is not just me. I believe these could lead to a generation of solid and incorruptible souls.

I want to fix my country today, right now! I feel the need, I feel the urgency and I feel the desire. I want to leave a better society for the coming generations. I want the next generation to inherit a just, caring and trust worthy society which looks after everyone. I want to leave behind a society, a world with no corruption, no hate and no bitterness. I hope for a society with a sense of hope, trust, a sense of community with full of souls who are incorruptible.

Am I dreaming for something impossible? Please say “no”. I want to believe this is possible and I can work towards making this happen.

A concerned citizen.

ಪರ್ವತದಲ್ಲಿ ಪವಾಡ - ಪುಸ್ತಕ ವಿಮರ್ಶೆ

ಸಂಯುಕ್ತಾ ಪುಲಿಗಲ್ ರ ಪರ್ವತದಲ್ಲಿ ಪವಾಡ ಓದಿ ಕೆಳಗಿಟ್ಟಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ನೆನ್ನೆಗೆ ಮುಗಿಯಿತು. ಇಂದು ಏನೋ ಖಾಲಿತನ. ಎರೆಡು ದಿನ ಎಡೆಬಿಡದೆ, ಬಿಡುವಾದಾಗಲೆಲ್ಲಾ ಓದಿದರ ಪರಿಣಾಮ.

ಆಂಡೀಸ್ ಶ್ರ‍ೇಣಿಯ ಮೌನಕ್ಕೆ ಮನಸ್ಸು ಹಾತೊರೆಯುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಅವರು ಬದುಕಿರದಿದ್ದಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ಪುಸ್ತಕ ಬರೆಯುತ್ತಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ, ಹಾಗಾಗಿ, ನ್ಯಾಂಡೋ ಬದುಕಿದರು ಎಂದು ಗೊತ್ತಿದ್ದರೂ, ಹೇಗೆ ಎಂದರಿಯುವ ಕುತೂಹಲದಿ ಬಿಟ್ಟೂ ಬಿಡದೆ ಓದಿಸಿದ ಪುಸ್ತಕ ಈಗ ಕೈಬಿಟ್ಟು ಮೇಜು ಸೇರಿದೆ. ಮನಸು ಖಾಲಿ ಖಾಲಿ.

ತಾನು ಓದಲು ಶುರು ಮಾಡಿದಾಗ ಕೈಬಿಡಲಾಗಲಿಲ್ಲ ಎಂದಳು ಸಂ. ಪು. ಹಾಗೇ ಭಟ್ಟಿ ಇಳಿಸಿದ್ದಾಳೆ ಕನ್ನಡಕ್ಕೆ. ಅದು ಹೇಗೆ ಅನುವಾದಿಸಿದಳೂ, ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ!

ಪುಸ್ತಕ ಗಟ್ಟಿ ಹಿಡಿತ ಹೊಂದಿದೆ. ಕಡೆಯವರೆಗೂ ಒಂದೂ ಶಬ್ದವನ್ನು, ಅನುಚಿತವಾಗಿ, ಅನಾವಶ್ಯಕವಾಗಿ ಬರೆಯಲಾಗಿಲ್ಲ. ಗಟ್ಟಿಯಾದ ಕಥೆ, ಬೇಸರಕ್ಕೆ ಆಸ್ಪದ ಕೊಡದೆ ಓದಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಹೋಗುತ್ತದೆ.

ಅನುವಾದ, ಒಂದು ಭಾಷೆಗೆ ಹೊಚ್ಚ ಹೊಸ ಯೋಚನೆಗಳನ್ನು ತರುವ ಸಾಧನ. ನಮ್ಮಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾರದರೂ ಆಂಡೀಸ್ ಪರ್ವತಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕಳೆದು ಹೋಗುವ ಸಾಧ್ಯತೆ, ಬಹಳ ಕಡಿಮೆ. ಹಾಗಂತ ಆ ಅನುಭವವನ್ನು ನಮ್ಮ ಭಾಷೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲಾಗದು/ಓದಬಾರದು ಎಂತೇನೂ ಇಲ್ಲವಲ್ಲ?

ಅನುವಾದ ಹಾಗೆಯೇ, ಬರೆಯುವ ವಿಧಾನ, ಭಾಷೆಯ ಬಳಕೆ, ಉಪಯೋಗಕ್ಕೂ ನವೀನತೆಯನ್ನು ತರುತ್ತದೆ. ಭಾವನೆಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಬರೆಯುವ, ಭಾವನೆಗಳನ್ನು ಬಳಸುವ ರೀತಿ ಭಾಷ್ಯಾನುಸಾರ ಬದಲಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಅನುವಾದ, ಈ ಹೊಸ ರೀತಿಗಳನ್ನು ಅರಿಯಲು ಸಹಾಯ ಮಾಡುತ್ತದೆ.

ಕನ್ನಡಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದಿರುವ ನ್ಯಾಂಡೋರವರ ಪುಸ್ತಕ ಅವರ ಸಾಹಸ, ಬದುಕು ಸಾವಿನ ನಡುವಿನ ಹೋರಾಟ ಮತ್ತು ಛಲವನ್ನಷ್ಟೇ ಅಲ್ಲದೆ, ಅವರ ಭಾವನೆಗಳ ಹರಿವು, ಭಾಷೆಯನ್ನು ಬಳಸುವ ವಿಧಾನ, ಮತ್ತು ಯೋಚನಾಲಹರಿಯನ್ನೂ ಅರಿಯಲು ಸಹಾಯ ಮಾಡುತ್ತದೆ. ಅನುವಾದದ ಉದ್ದೇಶವನ್ನು ಅನುವಾದಕರ ದೃಷ್ಟಿ ಮಾತ್ರ ನಿರ್ಧರಿಸಲು ಸಾಧ್ಯ. ಓದುಗರಿಗೆ ಆ ಸವಿಯನ್ನು ಸವಿಯಲು ಮಾತ್ರ ಅವಕಾಶ.

ಉತ್ತಮ ಪುಸ್ತಕವನ್ನು ಕನ್ನಡಕ್ಕೆ ತಂದಿದ್ದಕ್ಕೆ, ಗೆಳತಿ ಸಂಯುಕ್ತಾಳಿಗೆ ಅಭಿನಂದನೆಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ಧನ್ಯವಾದಗಳು.

ಭಾಶೆ

Where are we headed?

Today, I read in the news papers, a bus conductor was physically abused for stopping a boy from harassing a girl in the bus. A thoughtful, noble act rewarded with abuse, hurt and thrashing? Why? Why do our youngsters think it is okay to hurt someone? What have we done wrong? Where have we gone wrong in their upbringing?

Abuse of freedom of speech – “whatever you say is valued” is this the impression created by parents/society today. Is this over importance encouraging the kids to abuse?

You deserve everything – whether it is an expensive mobile phone or a girl who is not interested in you. The mentality of 'deserving', is that the problem?

Whatever you do, I will save you – parents taking responsibility for their children's action and saving them. Is that the problem?

Shortsightedness – this instant gratification generation is looking for only that, instant gratification. In such a case, who thinks about consequences?

Societal apathy – our general attitude of “it is none of my business” leading to creation unsafe spaces?

No sense of right or wrong – Have ideas like right and wrong gone missing? Are we in a time and space where over extension of the being nonjudgmental philosophy leading to this loss?

I am worried reading this. I wonder what we can do to change this. How can we look at today’s youth and help them have a healthy attitude. How???

Sowmyashree Gonibeedu