dixit@uscvax.UUCP (Vish Dixit) (03/23/85)
I am posting this Kannada poem and its English translation
at the behest of my friend (who doesn't understand Kannada).
Three Things:
1. Initially I thought of the title 'I too Became an American',
but I found that there was already a book and a poem
published under that title.
2. The term Junkie is used in a broader sense:
a worthless person, a dejected/rejected person etc.
3. Translation is rough
Enjoy.
Kannada English
na'nu' janki a'gi bit't'e I too Became a Junkie
__________________________ _______________________
vidya'rthiya'gi amerikakke bandavanu | I who came to America as a student
hasiru patrava hid'idu | got the Green card and became a
pauratvake'ridenemba on3a hemmeyali | citizen. Filled with such empty
kobbida gu'l'i na'na'de | pride, I became a Fat Ass
bedegond'a po'riyara sangakka'gi | For the company of hot girls
Bar-ba'rige aleyuva | wandering from Bar to Bar
bi'diya na'yi na'na'de | (again&again)
| I became a Street Dog
Coor-isutta ON T.V.ya nagna | Sitting (drinking Coors), eying at
citragal'a ed'ege kan3n3u beer-isuva | the nudes on ON TV
bedegurud'a kud'uka na'na'de | I became a sex-blind drunkard
kand'addu ke'l'iddanella kond'u | Buying whatever I see and hear,
haridu muridu bakkarisuva | breaking, tearing, and eating
shri' bhaks"aka(consumer) na'na'de| I became Mr. Consumer
habbada Sale habbada nantarada Sale | holiday sale, after holiday sale
angad'i tereva Sale angad'i muccuva Sale| opening sale, closing sale
bhand'a'ra teravugol'isuva Sale | inventory clearance sale
indu ma'trada Sale | today only sale
itya'di munnu'ra aravattaidu dinavu' | et cetera, 365 days getting duped
moleyu'd'uva | I became an Innocent Sucker
mugdha hi'ruga(Sucker) na'na'de
'Free adu Free idu-'kka'gi hagalirul'u | for 'free this, free that'
bali bi'l'uva svatantra jagattina | getting taken day and night
Free paura na'na'de | I became a Free Citizen
| of the free world
manege sa'la mat'hakke sa'la | loan for the house and for the farm
kond'addakkella sa'la ma'd'i | loan for everything I buy.
pla'st'ik han3a hottu kasagu'l'u | carrying the plastic money, and
(junk food) tindu tiruguva | eating junk food
svatantra katte na'na'de | I became a Free Wandering Donkey
habba hun3n3ivegal'a toredu | giving up all festivals,
va'rakke eppattu gant'e | working seventy hours a week,
dud'iyuva etta'de | I became an ox.
svanta ta'yi tangiyara bit't'u | paying taxes for anybody else's,
ya'rado' ji'vana bhadrate --- | but own mother and sisters',
(social security){ga'gi | social security
kara tettuva kurud'a na'na'de | I became a Blind Man
vyaktava'giyo avyaktava'giyo | directly or indirectly,
ra's"t'rara's"t'ragal'a vairadali | caught in the enmity of nations
parama'n3u vis"abi'jakke ereyuva | I became a contributor, and
tr'ti'ya jagattina rakuta na'na'de| became the blood of the
| thirld world to nourish the
| nuclear poison seed
varus"avu' tappade kara-va'pas | without fail, every year, filing
ka'gada tumbi | tax returns
kara-ma'nava tirugi kod'uva | I became Chatak bird
pennigal'iga'gi
ka'tarisuva ca'takavu na'na'de | waiting for the pennys
| that tax-man returns
hottu gottilladeye ku'L'a maretu | with no sense of time and place
so'pugal'a cat'a ti'risalu | to satisfy my urge for soaps
huccu pet't'i(idiot box)ya munde | I became a Possessed Idiot
gara bad'idu ku'd'uva ebbanka na'na'de | sitting in front of idiot box
ka'lcend'u but't'icend'ugal'a a't'agal'a| watching football and basketball
satata no'd'uta na'lka'n3e (Quarter) | games and betting quarters
ju'ju kat't'uva |
athava | I became a Cheapie sitting
la's ve'gas-nalli onda'n3e(Nickel) | in front of a nickel slot machine
@kan{si'l'uyantra(slot-machine)da munde | in Las Vegas
kukkarisuva cillareyu na'na'de
bad'idu ku'dalige ban3n3avanu | dying my hair, in starnge clothes,
vicitra ve's"adali guri illadeye | with no aims at all,
ha'livud' buleva'rd'-na nat'ara | walking on the footprints of
pa'damudreyalli pa'da it't'u tiruguva | actors in Hollywood Boulevard
kalpana'maya ka'dambari na'na'de | i became an Imaginative Novel
ko'k e'risi mu'gu sut't'aru' togalu | by taking coke my nose is burnt
tu'ta'daru' | and skin is full of holes.
gul'ige pud'igal'a kabal'isi ha'ra'd'uva| even then I became a Space Wanderer
gaganacari (space wanderer) na'na'de | by taking pills and powders
nanna buddhigondu penni | a penny for my intelligence.
made-in-Taiwan, Hong-Kong itya'di | Among myriad things, Made-in-Taiwan
ra'shi vastugal'ali gurutariyadante | Hong Kong etc,
made-in-India na'na'de | I became a Made-in-India
ele priye, | my dear,
sankra'ntigal'e gatisidaru' | I became a monk who doesn't see
neremaneyavana mukhava no'd'ada | his neighbors' face while years
muniyu na'na'de | pass
dad'adalli ul'iyalu a'l'a be'rilladeye | having no firm roots to remain on
hol'eyalli haridu hogalu a'gade | the shore, not having enough
tel'u bal'l'iya hid'idu innu' | courage to swim with the flow
ho'ra'd'uttiruva | I became a Shunya Sampadaka
shu'nya sampa'daka | (zero achiever?) holding onto
(zero-achiever?) na'na'de | a thin ivy and still fighting
i' 'karagisuva kad'a'yi-'yalli | in this melting pot,
karagadeye mul'ugadeye | neither melting nor sinking,
te'la'd'uva jot't'u na'na'de | I became Floating Mass
sahasra hosa gel'eyaranu hondiyu' | having thousand new friends,
hr'dayada'l'ake il'iyade gant'alol' sikka| but never reaching to heart,
"Hello-Hi" na'na'de | I became a "Hello-Hi" stuck in
| the throat
an3n3a tangiyara hut't'u gel'eyara bit't'u | forgetting my brothers, sisters,
bel'eda u'rina nenapal'idu mut't'a'da | and old friends, memories of my
ha'l'u'ra haddu na'na'de | birthplace wiped out,
| I became an Owl of the Ghost Town
nanna ta'yiya toredu kannad'atiya maretu|giving up my mother, forgetting my
bha'ratiyinda saridu | mother tounge, and distancing the
elli trima'tr'dro'hi a'denemba al'ukinali| mother land, worrying that I
soragi sun3n3a na'na'de | rejected them, I became a
| Wasted Man
indalla na'l'e tirugi nammu'rige | I, who nurtured hopes of returning
ho'gabe'kemba du'rada a'se | home, tomorrow if not today,
irisikond'idda na'nu | became a Junkie that might
alliyu' reject a'gabahuda'da | be rejected even there
janki a'gi bit't'e.
- 'di'vi-', vishwe'shwara di'ks"ita | - 'deevi', Vishweshwar Dixit
la's e'njeli's, kya'liforniya | Los Angeles, CA.
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