Reading Indian Writing, I came across a wonderful Telugu poem. Unfortunately my lack of knowledge in language, forced me to read the English translation. Nonetheless, it definitely reached my favourites.
I could not find it over the internet, but I take the liberty to share the translation here, which I found in a Pdf file.
Half World
Arthanareeswara – half woman, half Eswar
You say, or, half of the sky
Both sound the same.
Cleaving the globe vertically into two
Half light and half darkness
Darkness is only the shadow of light
That’s the lesson taught at school in childhood.
Three rooms in our home:
Drawing room, bedroom, and kitchen
One half is mine
For my hubby the drawing room
For me the kitchen
For us both, the bed
Responsibilities we share half-and-half
Bearing the baby mine,
Giving the family name, his.
When dusk falls
Shivers in the spine
Wailing hearts
On being raped
As though rising from graves
Before lamps run out of oil
Spent matchsticks
If these snigger and tease
If wan and feeling wretched
The differences aeon-long
Are those of light and dark.
Groping in the dark
Claiming half world as mine
How long can I feign Urmila’s* sleep?
Not in the answer sheets in the exams alone
For life too should a margin be given.
Life should be securely held and protected:
Even from the one to whom the heart is given.
(*Lakshmana’s wife in the Ramayana. She spends all her life in sleep during his exile.)
-S. Jaya
This reminds me of so many poets, Plath, Kamala Das… And all I can do is read this again and again.
Moushmi Radhanpara 
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