When the
Country is in Pain
■ Ramhari Paudyal
At a time when the country is
handicapped
due to the history’s most
devastating calamity
Of a time when the country is
shivering
by the brutal slaps of mother
nature.
When, in a jiffy, our family
members got buried before our eyes
Neither could I save nor hold their
hands
A stark reality of this foreign
settlement.
I could never be in the funeral
procession of anyone
I could never participate in the
happiness of anyone
I am just staring blankly at the
screens of BBC and CNN
The walls of facebook are painted
with posts of tremor
I am seeing the beautiful country
turn into a ruin
I am watching the tower of belief
Dharahara collapsing
Ancient temples and heritage sites
turned into ashes
Our self-esteem and our identity
wiped out gradually
The old Durbar Square falling down
Krishna Temple standing on a
support
The capital of my country -
The concrete kingdom turned into
ruin
The crowd running for their lives
Appalling clamour – from the earthquake
Infected of a mental worm – from
frequent aftershocks
Save me from the debris –
melancholy profound
How can I see the declination of
this country?
How can I fathom the destruction of
this nation?
When the whole nation is in state
of bereavement
When the whole country is disgraced
by the beats of devastation
I could not at least save her from
falling down
I couldn’t do anything for those
who were under the rubble
I could never protect the chastity
of my motherland
And I could not at least wipe the
tears off her eyes
I have come here in this foreign
land for my own self
When the country is in pain
All I can do is just drop my tears
from a faraway place
When the country needs my hand
All I am undergoing is a pain
within
I have sold myself for my basic
needs
Just for a dream that I wanted to
be
Forgetting my own farm, my own land
I am nomadic who has lost his way
I am a traveler who has lost his
way
I am the one who achieved something
losing everything
I have been exposed from this end
when I tried to sew the other end
I earned from this hand and lost
everything from the other
My precious youth
My priceless moments
My sturdy toil
At a time when the country is
looking for me
When the earth is demanding much
things
This is a time ripe for everyone to
unite
For everyone to gear up
We are just Nepali
To let this country rise again
To let this country smile again
Let us take an oath that we build
this country in such a way
That no one can again break it down
Standing on our own feet
On our own meticulous effort.
We have just fallen down
We are just the suppressed ones
We will rise again stronger than
the Dharahara tower
We will rise again with our
self-esteem and labour
It’s not the time to doubt that the
country turns into Haiti
Let’s learn from our past, from our
mistakes
Let’s love our motherland
Let’s love our dear nature
Let’s not cross our limit such that
the nature gets angry
Let’s follow the building code of
conduct
Let’s follow the expert’s design of
quake-proof structure.
Belayat (UK)
Translated
by Jayant Sharma
