Sub Theek Hai
You ask me
If it is hard for me there
Yes, when I think of those comrades
Who in exile are suffering hardships
To wipe off the misery of the people,
This inaction is really hard to bear.
You ask me
If am happy here,
Hope for the future glimmers
Like lightning hid in the cloud
In the hearts of the millions of this vast country
It jingles in these fetters
Even in these prison dens
Which wide-mouthed
Seek to swallow revolution,
There is unrest;
Giving the slip
To the exploiter’s flag on guard
Each morning,
Light and love of people
Call to have a word with us
Birds perched on the barbed wire
Over the prison walls,
Jasmines that sprouted in the sweat
Of the prisoners
Always hold forth a message
In silence
Breezes blow in the night,
As a poet-friend fancied
The moon gets caught in the barbed wire
Over the prison walls
And we, after singing and discoursing,
Lose ourselves in the dreams of revolution
But the poor lonely policemen
Exiled from sleep and shelter
Yawn out at every hour
Sab Theek Hai!
***
27 June 1974
Translated by Jaganmohan