:: Nilim Kumar
Month of Ramadan
Afruza sent some dates for me
In a packet marked brotherhood.
Written in a chit
‘Relish the dates bhaijaan’.
I do not observe Roja
So no seheri – iftar either
Afruza sent me some dates
from her share of Iftar
In a packet marked brotherhood
Someone whispered in my ears
‘Dates of Mecca is prohibited’.
Afruza sent me some dates from Mecca.
Taking the black dates in my hands
No thought of Allah or God crossed my mind
The picture of the date plants
Standing on a distant desert
Withstanding the scorching sunshine
Is flashing on my mental screen
The picture of the date plants
Standing bathed in the misty moonlight
Is flashing on my mental screen
Those that do not call out for Allah and God
They call out for human beings
Relentlessly
It is not known
To those date trees
Who is Allah?
Who is God?
Afruza sent me
Some dates
Afruza Afruza Afruza
That very Afruza
Who even after having a Mosque
Had built a temple in her bosom.
Month of Ramadan
Afruza sent some dates for me
In a packet marked brotherhood
At the address of
Secularism.
Nilim Kumar is the author of seventeen volumes of poetry and three novels in Assamese. Translated into several languages (including English, French, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi and Nepali), his poetry has won various accolades, including the Uday Bharati National Award, the Raza Foundation Award and the Shabda Award. He has participated in a number of national and international literary festivals.
