Am I Seeing the City
by Manisha Gauchan
From the window of a five-storied house
my eyes travel down
down…down…down to the street/ to the pavement
to the footpath/ to the goods on the footpath
to the owners of those goods
to the eyes choosing those goods/ the hands feeling them
to the owners hope of profit
to the buyers’ cash that vanishes like snow
O people look up!
I, one without eyes, am looking at the city from the window
Is the city astir only on that footpath?
Yesterday, I set out through an alley in search of the city
and found myself at a slaughterhouse
A play of khukuris on the chopping block
and below, tears of severed heads
There I also saw my own head
and behind, I saw my friend’s hand
sliced from the elbow onward
On the ring finger glittered
a ring his Sarita had placed there
I don’t know what happened
but I saw the parts of my own kith and kin
scattered there
O people, go through that alley once
and if you see what I saw,
come, let us unite to take it down
so the city doesn’t become a slaughterhouse
From this window
to forget that horror
I’m looking at the city
From afar I hear
the whirring noise of the factory
fumes eager to destroy the ozone layer
fingers moving with the machines
with the whirring, a humming
of a folk song –
Suntala paani .. nakhau bhane dui din ko jyaan jaani
(Orange water… if not drunk, this short life will expire)
Am I seeing the city in the factory?
O people, if the city itself is a factory
let us go and say –
produce food to satisfy all
and clothes to cover all bodies
and bricks to build houses for all
Dancers in the psychedelic lights
and dohori singers
who‘ve run their throats dry over all that din
Am I seeing the city in dohori 1 evenings and dance restaurants?
If I am
then I’m also seeing dancers weeping
and hearing the singers’ moan of agony
O people,
am I seeing the city rightly?
On the street a child who sleeps with a dog,
in the middle of the street a lunatic naked, crying, laughing,
with a resume and an empty stomach
aimlessly wandering in search of a position
a middle-aged man without a job,
alighting from a shiny car at midnight her work done
a sad, beautiful young woman
Have I seen the city in all these?
O people, am I truly seeing the city?
If I am,
then why am I seeing this discrepancy?
No, this isn’t the city I sought
For in the city people should be happy
1 Dohori - local songs or duets which are typically sung by men and women during harvest and rice planting time.The hallmark of these songs which are that they are spontaneous, flirtatious and witty. These songs have become very popular as a form of entertainment in the city.
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Sanjana Joshi- Nepal
Elipse/ Breathe
About the Work:
In the famous Hindu Epic, Mahabharata, there is an instance where Lord Krishna opens his mouth and reveals the entire universe within. Similarly, Hanuman, in Ramayana, tears apart his chest and reveals the images of Rama and Sita, the deity, whom he loves and prays ‘truly’. These parallel cases embed a metaphorically mystical and metaphysical sense that could only be divine and in our times today just a mere hypothesis. This dilemma, truth, mysticism, divinity or whatever we may name it, is portrayed and extended with a little bit of twist in my works, entitled ‘Eclipse’ and ‘Breathe’.
In the Poetry of Manisha Gauchan, “Am I Seeing the City’, she once portrays herself as a blind person who ‘sees’ the ‘intangible’ elements like ‘societal mal practices and pollutants’, class, hierarchy, identity, and superstitions very clearly. This contradiction or the paradox of being blind yet seeing or feeling things is interesting reference point for me. Inversely, we as a member of a community see things but turn blind to them. In these two works, I have tried to established a bridge between the seen, ignored and not seen, mostly picking up things that we often pass by or do not care enough to mention.
The work ‘Eclipse’ contains a mouth with infused street protest image during which tires are burnt. This kind of activity is a common ‘everyday’ activity in Nepal contributing to the political impasse that has obstructed and slowed down economy, progress and development of the entire country.
The work ‘Breathe’ contains animals’ sacrifice sight from Gadhi Mai (known as the Goddess of Power) festival in southern Nepal, where millions of devotees flock from various parts of the country and India. Despite appeals to halt the centuries-old custom of animal sacrifice, the worship continues at the 260-year-old temple. It is estimated that some 35,000 to 40,000 buffaloes, which are brought mostly from India, for the world’s largest ritual sacrifice at the temple. Around five million people, 80 per cent from India, gather during the festival. Some 3,00,000 to 5,00,000 animals were sacrificed this year during the two-day festival.
Breathe, Digital Print, 30 x 32 inches, 2010, Edition of 3
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Eclipse, Digital Print, 30 x 32 inches, 2010, Edition of 3.
