मेरा घर / My Home

पर हमने कहा रह लेंगे साथ।

फिर हलों से तुमने खेत सजाए, और उजड़े हमारे घर।

पता नहीं तुमने मुझे देखा नहीं, या फिर देख कर अनदेखा कर दिया।

अब तुमने सड़क बनाए, हमारे तालाबों के बीच और इस सड़क पर कुचले हमारे मीत।

पता नहीं तुमने मुझे देखा नहीं, या फिर देख कर अनदेखा कर दिया।

अन्ततः विश्राम को मिला स्थान

और ज्योंही मून्दी आँख, सुना ज़ोर का शोर, और अचानक पड़ा पीठ पर लाठ।

बहुत कोशिश की-कि बचूँ, पर अंत हुआ लहूलुहान,

और मालूम हुई एक बात- कि तुमने देखकर अनदेखा कर दिया था मुझे।

A poem describing human activities from the point of view of a snake. This is a mirror to the habitat destruction due to reckless activities of humans leading to biodiversity loss.

English Translation

Who are these people who have come to our home, And where did they come from?

You cleared the forests to build your dwellings, And in doing so, you uprooted ours.

I don’t know if you truly didn’t see me, Or if you saw me and chose to look away.

Yet, I thought we could coexist.

Then you adorned the earth with plows and fields, And once again, our homes were destroyed.

I don’t know if you truly didn’t see me, Or if you saw me and chose to look away.

Now you have built roads Right through the heart of our ponds, And upon these roads, my companions were crushed.

I don’t know if you truly didn’t see me, Or if you saw me and chose to look away.

At last, I found a place to rest,

But the moment I closed my eyes, I heard a deafening roar, And suddenly, a heavy blow struck my back.

I tried so hard to survive, But it ended in a pool of blood.

And then, one thing became clear to me- That you had seen me, but you chose to ignore me.

Jay Prakash is a Ph.D. student at Ghent University, Belgium