The Rhythm of Rail (Telugu Original “Railubandi Raagam ” by Dr K.Geeta)

The Rhythm of Rail

                       English Translation: V.Vijaya Kumar

Telugu Original : “Railubandi Raagam” by Dr K.Geeta

My childhood train still coos chuk…chuk

When the sound heard the trails in me jolt and run

Grandma! Tell me first not those princess fables

But why does the heart smelt like coal?

And why it throbs when waved red flag-

Half the life that swept by sweeper thwarts the breathe

The robust compartments inside the windows

Showing muscle and vain

Half the station sold and the half bought

Few bellis fill half jolting on trolley wheels

Stop those Kasi-majili fables for sometime

Why do I want to breathe polluted air stomach-full?

Why do I wish to wound the land and go on long sleep?

Tell me one word-

Why don’t the hamali become stout even after ten years?

Why don’t the gang man never tired of in search of

Worn out broken fishplates?

Why had the guard left with faded days though he showed colors everyday?

Why did he lose the fingerprints who laid the pebbles?

Though I’m short-sighted and lost audition

My brain hasn’t lost its faculty-

Ticket Collector not yet sent me down-

The Goods train not yet derailed too-

Grandma! Can I ask you something you can’t answer in this life!

Why do life jolt and jerk like a bridge?

*****