Neither Poem by Unnikrishnan Sivasankara Menon
Neither
I saw you at the signal
Where my car had stopped
In the dress of a woman;
You walked swinging your hips
With a vulgar smile on your lips
From one car to the other
And stretched your hands.
Clapping in your peculiar style
You asked for money
As if it were your right
Your hoarse voice and manners
Telling me much of the unsaid.
I rolled back my shutters
And shook my head.
You didn't persist.
Those in the car next to mine
Could be your mother,
Father, brother, sister;
Would they recognize you?
What if?
You could be Bhagmati.
I could call you
By any other name.
But the stamp on you
Is the same:
An Outcast!
Contempt oozes out from you
In every move
For the khuda who created you
For this world
That condemned you
To the streets.
Who were the man and the woman
Who gave you birth
And threw you in the streets?
And you?
Neither!
Not man or woman!
Not even a human being.
Your eyes, I sense,
Betrayed your sorrow,
Distrust, diffidence
And extreme contempt
For yourself.
I took you for arrogant
And haughty-
But now I realized
You were neither!
***
i see that i've read and commented already. i'll move on, and not reread, though i DID read Rini's comment. :) bri
Hi Bri, Do read again. The situation of Neithers in India is pathetic, which you are not familiar with. Called Hilda's. Live as a separate community. They are given off to the community, as new-born, , because it is considered ominous to have a Neither baby at home.
Really I feel sad for such people..After all they are God's creation whom should be considered as another on this earth..Thanks for the new laws recently around the country accepting and giving them theirs rights..Good one
Thank you Rini, for reading this poem. It is a really heart-felt one. Your comments touch the core of the iss.
I rolled back my shutters And shook my head..................i assume shutters are car windows. hmm? I guess you will never know for sure how the person thinks about him/herself. even if she/he told you, you could not be sure! the same can be said about a lot of people who appear normal, not sexually 'different' or outcasts. it is easy for people to know others without really KNOWING them. i'm glad i was not given the 'extra handicap' of being so different from the majority. a nicely done account of your experience and thoughts. of course, plenty of people, regardless of their sexual identity, look for handouts. some are more 'obvious' than others. i sometimes think that beggars/panhandlers ARE WORKING for a living. i tried to find definitions, online, for Bhagmati and khuda, but i was not satisfied with my search. to MyPoemList. bri :)
Hi Bri, Bhagmati is one of the prominent characters in novelDelhi by Indian writer, Khushwant Singh. Very famous for his writes. Bhagmati is pictured as the consort of the protagonist in the novel, but 'she' is a NEITHER. KHUDA means God Almighty in Urdu/Hindi. And thank you for reading this poem, Bri. For, this one is one my favorite poems. Provoked by an incident occurred right before my eyes. I am pretty sure that the family who were travelling in the BMW were 'her family. And everybody recgnized each other, But nobody was able to speak out. The very sad weeping face of the mother who had to give away her baby, just because she was third gender, haunted me for months. I remember, everybody was putting up a brave face. But the extreme turbulations in the ocean of emotions touched me. Thank you Bri, once again. In India and most part of Asia, the third gender is severely discriminated against. They are given away immediately after birth and live as a community of outcasts. Mostly, they end up as prostitutes or thugs.
Extremely poignant and thought provoking but the attitude of a common man toward this sexual minority remains one of indifference or disdain. We just want to ignore their existence. There is at least someone among the poets who has penned their plight. Thanks. I quote: And you? .... Neither! Not man or woman! Not even a human being.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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5/10/2024 2:30:58 PM # 1.0.0.1119
A very painful story E.S...I remember watch something similar on TV, but it was about the gypsy people, how they use to treat them. Thanks for sharing! ! !
Thank you, Kyvin, for reading the poem and marking your observations. Ever so grateful