A few lines of Brecht in Hindi Translation

I guess receptivity to a particular poem, or even some lines, also depends on the mood of the moment . The most sublime poetry may sometime pass you by but something by its sheer topicality may arrest your attention. Here are a few lines of a long poem by Brecht “To those who have been brought into line," which I have read several times, appealed to me disproportionate to its poetic worth. I translated it in Hindi for a larger audience.

“They describe

The fearful misdeed as something as unremarkable as the rain

Also as unpreventable as the rain.

So, by way of their silence, they lend support to

The criminals, but soon

They will notice that in order not to lose their bread

They must not only remain silent about the truth, but also

Tell the lie. Not ungraciously

The exploiters embrace those who are prepared

“Not to lose their bread.

They do not go along like men corrupted

For they have not been given anything, rather

Nothing has yet been taken from them.

When the eulogist

Rising from the table of the powerful, opens wide his mouth

And you can see between his teeth

The remains of the meal, then you listen

To his speech with scepticism.

The exploiters embrace those who are prepared

But the eulogy of him

Who but yesterday reviled the powerful and was not invited to the victory banquet

Weighs heavier.

प्रस्तुत है इसका अनुवाद , कैसा लगा बताइयेगा .

कितनी सहजता से वे बयां करते हैं

उन भयानक कृत्यों को मानो बरसात का बरसना हो

मानो आम सी कोई घटना हो , वैसी ही अनिरोध्य ।

पर जल्द ही महसूस होने लगता है उन्हें कि अपराधियों का चुप्पा

सहयोग नाकाफी है अपनी रोज़ी रोटी बचाने के लिए ।

सिर्फ चुप्पी से काम नहीं चलेगा झूठ बोलना लाज़िमी है. ।

बहुत शालीनता से शोषक अपना लेते हैं उन्हें

जो तैयार है रोटी की कीमत चुकाने को।

चलते भी हैं वो सर उठाकर पाक साफ़ की तरह

उनके दामन पर भ्रष्टाचार का दाग नहीं ,

न उन्हें कुछ पाया , न ही उन्होंने कुछ गवायाँ

लेकिन जब चारण स्तुति गान करता है

तो उसके दांतों में फँसे हुए भोजन के अवशिष्ठ खोल देते है भेद

समर्थ लोगों के टेबल पर दावत में सहभागिता का ।

उसके वक्तव्य खो देते है विश्वसनीयता , अनायास।

लेकिन कलतक जो कोसते थे ,

विजय भोज का न्योता न पाकर .

उनकी स्तुति कुछ ज्यादा ही वजनदार होती है.