Bless Us All – Veera Rathod, Translated from the Marathi original Sena Sayi Wes by LS Deshpande

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Translated from the Marathi by LS Deshpande Translated into English from the first time, this award-winning collection by Veera Rathod is a powerful document of Adivasi identity. The poet says, ‘Whenever I contemplate what a poem means to me and what I mean to a poem, it appears before me in the form of my mother, my lover, and my friend. It stays with me like an inseparable shadow. Poems exist as the voice of my existence. My poetry is a depiction of my life.’ Bless Us All (Sena Sayi Wes, in the Banjara dialect) by Veera Rathod was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar in 2015. The title refers to the opening poem of the collection — a kind of prayer. The book is dedicated to the Laman Banjaras, who sang the primaeval prayer for the world’s well-being. This book is a scathing criticism, full of irony and satire, of the socio-cultural set-up of India, particularly that of Maharashtra. It stands for the establishment and signifies the schism of society between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’, the powerful and the deprived, the advantaged and the disadvantaged. It sheds light on a number of social ills and evils, primarily the hegemony of the upper class, discrimination, exploitation, casteism, and corruption leading to injustice, inequality and disharmony in society, because of which man is often seen being lost in the crowd or being reduced to a mere cog in the machine. — LS Deshpande These poems are soaked in tales of hope amidst woes, of existential agony riding alongside the shining morning star, ‘poriya tara’, that releases energy to fight the battle of survival each day. When the embryo in the mother’s womb is branded as ‘criminal’, its future is foretold. The caravan of agonies however moves on, women become toys for male lust and the poems spill out tales of the tyranny of the ‘establishment’ unfettered by any political bias. They also proclaim the courage of the nomads to continue their journey and not give up their dreams of a home in future. Veera Rathod’s poetry carries the complexity and contradictions of the lives of denotified tribal communities with gusto and aplomb, with an undertone of a prayer seeking blessings for a better life nourished by the likes of Kabir and Tukaram. — Sukrita Paul Kumar This collection by Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar-winning poet Veera Rathod is an extremely significant literary work. Through these poems, the narrative of the pains of the Banjara, a marginalised group among the nomadic and de-notified tribes of Indian society, is expressed. This human group, which has always prayed ‘For the welfare of even the smallest creatures like ants’ … ‘For the well-being of all living beings’ and ‘May everyone’s dreams come true,’ faces extreme neglect and humiliation. This tragic irony is conveyed through these poems. Veera Rathod’s poetry expresses the joy and values in the life of Banjara community. At the same time, they also articulate the pain of not being accorded dignity as human beings. — Vasant Abaji Dahake