My Village

                                               My Village   
                                                                     By Jitendra Suna*



To which place I should call my mother land?

To which village I should call my village,

A village where animal is foster, taken care of

Whereas a man is abhorrent, a woman is despised

To which village should I call mine?

I am Dom from the Far East, do you know me?

I am a Ghansi from the Far East do you know me?

I am a Chamar from the Far East do you know me?

I am a Pana from the Far East do you know me?

Your fellow Hindu treat me worst than the enemy?

I am un-see-able, Untouchable and unapproachable in the 21^st century?

They say I am dirty filthy, then I went to study I became educated,

And Became civilized.

Now, they say this is their religion, culture, and Tradition, to treat me as untouchable.

Your fellow Hindus come to my Dom colony for their collection,

Do you know what collection?

For celebrating Ramayana, Mahabharata, Durga Puja,

I ask them,

I will give you money, but why cannot I worship along with you?

If I am your villagers, I am your fellow brother then let’s celebrate together,

I also worship, I will be the priest along with you

Do you know what they said?

They said it is not possible,

I asked them why? They said it’s our tradition, culture, and religion.

I asked again if I am your fellow brother then why can’t we sit together, eat together and worship together.

Should I call this village is mine?

This people are mine?

Which ideal Village society you are talking about?

Is it the village where an animal is supposed to be nurture and taken care of and humans are for to be hated?

Is it a village where woman raped and killed and dumped in every moment?

Which Ideal Village society you are talking about?

They said they had a communal land ownership

I asked where I was in that communal land ownership

They never allowed me to hold pieces of land,

The Hindus never allowed me to do business,

They never allowed me to acquired education,

I survived while eating dead cow, and buffalo

I lived in place which was malodorous

Which Village Swaraj you are talking about

Is it the village which build and run over my dead body, my blood?

Is it the village where you murdered my uncle, raped my sisters every movement?

Is it the village where you lynched my people?

Which Village?