"Bhetala Savam" by Varavara Rao: English Version

by Crazyfinger

Two sources of introduction to Varavara Rao are here and here (poet's website).  A founding member of VIRASAM (abbr. from Telugu words, translated into English they mean Revolutionary Writers' Association) his poetry is bound to charge even an old damp oak with a live fire desperate for illumination.  Among many poets whose works I am familiar with, Varavara Rao is one man whose poems make me feel he is "our man," due primarily to his common man's language.   

The Telugu original is at the poet Varavara Rao's site here.

Demon Ghost

Hauling the carcass from the lockup
Over my shoulder, I was walking

I'll let you in on the story of my death
Said the corpse
Tell me if it was a natural death 
Or was it a murder

Carcass, and on top of it
Speaks while in the lockup
Could only mean a murder, I said

Pleased though at the truth's utterance
For the living, to speak is a crime
So the corpse disappeared
Showed up in some other lockup   

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Comments

[anu]

Hey CF,

Shavam in tamil means corpse..... ?

[Crazyfinger]

Anu - I wrote it as "Savam" because I am trying to follow what appears to be a convention to use upper-case letter S for "sh" equivalent in Telugu. It reads much better if I wrote it as "Shavam." Be that as it may, yes, "Shavam / Savam" means a dead body in Telugu. I switch between corpse, cadaver or carcass etc., based on what I thought would fit the movement in the poem.

Crazyfinger

[anu]

corpse, cadaver, carcass all fine, was wondering about ghost.

[Crazyfinger]

corpse, cadaver, carcass all fine, was wondering about ghost.

Interesting. The poem itself does not use any word meaning ghost. The title says "bhetala." Even so, I think even for someone without the knowledge of bhetala/vetal stories, or without that context, the disappearance of the corpse will mean, I think, what the poet intended to mean. Actually I think the meaning is much more visceral (in a political sense) without the bhetala/vetal connotation.

Crazyfinger