Those who were born with the land
When our ancestors were born,
it was from those yonder mountains
the cool wind blew,
and it was in the river flowing down from there
they bathed.
Like consuming three meals a day,
they sang songs that were steeped
in the scent of grains.
Like an animal tending its wounds with saliva,
they wove their garments.
When flowers of joy bloomed
across fields of turmeric,
our mothers were born.
The cool wind blew then too,
and they also bathed in the same river.
They turned into songs
the astringent taste of wheat
and the lush green
of flourishing rice paddies.
The sky has been observing all of this.
Now, we are also born.
The same cool wind blows,
and we bathe in the same river.
Our songs emerge with the trees.
It is this land that gave us birth.
Our placentas buried in the ground
are our witnesses.
We don’t have any legal documents
because our forefathers
never ever made love on the streets.
நிலத்தோடு பிறந்தவர்கள்
எங்கள் மூதாதையர் பிறந்தபோது
அந்த மலைகளிலிருந்துதான் குளிர்காற்று வீசியது
அங்கிருந்து உருண்டு வரும் நதியில்தான்
நீராடினார்கள்
தானியங்களின் வாசனை வீசும் பாடல்களை
மூன்றுவேளை உணவு உண்பதைப் போல
பாடினார்கள் உடலின் காயத்தை
உமிழ் நீரால் மருந்திட்டுக் கொள்ளும் விலங்குபோல
தங்கள் ஆடைகளை நெய்துகொண்டார்கள்
மஞ்சள் கிழங்கு பயிரிடப்பட்ட வயல்கள் தோறும்
மகிழ்வின் மலர்கள் பூத்த போது
எங்கள் தாய்மார்கள் பிறந்தார்கள்
அப்போதும் குளிர்காற்று வீசியது
அதே நதியில்தான் நீராடினார்கள்
கோதுமைகளின் துவர்ப்புச் சுவையையும்
நெற்பயிர்களின் பசுமை நிறத்தையும்
இவர்கள் பாடலாக்கினார்கள்
வானம் பார்த்துக் கொண்டுதான் இருக்கிறது
இதோ நாங்களும் பிறக்கிறோம்
அதே காற்று வீசுகிறது
அதே நதியில் நீராடுகிறோம்
எங்கள் பாடல் மரங்களூடே எழும்புகிறது
இந்த நிலம்தான் எங்களை பிறக்க வைத்திருக்கிறது
மண்ணில் புதைக்கப்பட்ட
எங்கள் நஞ்சுக்கொடிகளே சாட்சி
எங்களிடம் ஆவணங்கள் எவையுமில்லை
ஏனெனில் எங்கள் மூதாதையர்
ஒருபோதும் தெருக்களில் புணர்ந்ததில்லை.
Those who were born with the land
Sukirtharani
Tamil title and the author’s name
நிலத்தோடு பிறந்தவர்கள்
சுகிர்தராணி
Translator’s Statement
The poem “Those who were born with the land” embodies the profound, inextricable connection among people, their environment, and the heritage they’ve carried across generations. The cool wind that swept down from the mountains at the time of their ancestors’ birth continues to blow for each new generation, while the same river flowing from the mountains sustains them all. The timeless bond between the people and their land is beautifully captured in the lines describing the ancestors singing “songs steeped in the scent of grains,” the parents transforming “the astringent taste of wheat and the lush green of flourishing rice paddies” into songs, and the declaration that “our songs emerge with the trees.” If these connections do not suffice to affirm that the land itself gave them birth, the placentas buried in its soil stand as undeniable witnesses. The narrative’s powerful conclusion serves as a defiant protest against any attempt to sever the people from their land.
I found the poem highly picturesque in its description of the environment and the people’s deep connection with the land. I didn’t encounter any challenges in conveying the ideas from the source language to the target language. The only change I made was separating the experiences of the present generation from those of the previous generations in order to accentuate the similarities. I achieved this by introducing stanza breaks and isolating the line “The sky has been observing all of this” to enhance its impact. In contrast, the original poem does not use stanza breaks. Translating this poem was a delightful experience, as the vivid descriptions in the original beautifully transport the reader to the land and its surroundings.
Thila Varghese is a writer and translator based in London, Ontario, where she works part-time as a writing advisor at Western University in Canada. Her translations of Tamil literary works have been published in international journals and magazines. Thila’s translation entry was a finalist in the inaugural 2023 Armory Square Prize for South Asian Literature in Translation. Her translation of Khaled Hosseini’s Sea Prayer into Tamil was published in 2023. Thila received the 2024 ALTA Mentorship in Poetry from a South Asian language, awarded in partnership with the SALT Project. Her translation entry received a First-Time Entrant Commendation in the 2024 Stephen Spender Prize for translation of poetry.
Sukirtharani, a teacher by profession, is the author of nine poetry books. A feminist and a social activist, Sukirtharani speaks out against oppression of women and caste-based discrimination through her poems that focus on pressing social issues and environmental degradation. Drawn from lived experiences of marginalized communities, Sukirtharani’s poems challenge caste hierarchies and patriarchal norms in Indian society. A recipient of numerous literary awards, Sukirtharani actively participates in regional, national, and international forums to engage in the ongoing dialogue on gender imbalance and social inequality.
