[Transcreation] Realisation

At the island, a snake bit me
My body turned blue, I became a child again

There were stairs ahead for me to climb
Atop, I saw my grandfather
Unlike him, his growing beard defied death

I perched atop his lap he lovingly offered
He squeezed a leaf and made me drink
When the poison subsided, I was in another world

No hatred or war
Humans and Gods were stark naked
All bathed in an aura
In the same aura,
my sister had shown me once
inside the hollow of a tamarind tree

We thought, in our childish naivety
that it was a diamond
But, we were wrong
It was that world

There was no religion
There was only the soul
No darkness, neither death
No insides or outsides
Neither beginnings nor ends
None was alone
Everyone bathed in the same river,
ate from the same tree

A fairy whispered in my ear:
“The second millennium is over”
A loud roar reverberated in my ears
I was alone,
surrounded by fire



Velipadu - A poem in Malayalam by K. Satchidanandan
Transcreation by Vijay © 31st July, 2007