Bodhi Tree: Mina Gajbhiye

Here is a settlement.

Houses with red-tiled roofs,

planned roads,

gardens and lawns.

It is a laboratory to mold people…

Minds are being forged

        in what sort of furnace?

Smiles on faces and poison in hearts,

no harmony between thought and action.

The same old customary drill is on.

Those calculating faces,

somewhat sophisticated,

are going to change their masks and come out

singing the arati of my welcome.

I am satisfied that

I have sown the seeds

But here they have already started the preparations

     for the resistance…

I am doubtful:

Will at least one seed sprout?

Bodhi tree…………..

translated by Shubhangi Apte and Slyvie Martinezwith some changes by Eleanor Zelliot.