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OutlookIndia

Through 100 pages of 'Poetry as Evidence', Outlook presents a selection of poems and verses that have moved us, and we feel these serve as evidence of our bleak times and lives.

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00:00 I am Pragya and I bring to you excerpts from the ear-opener issue of Outlook titled Poetry as Evidence.

00:07 Poetry must be brought before general public. Poetry offers that scope that we get affected and we feel.

00:14 Poetry expands the scope of storytelling. It is evidence of others' lives, of our times.

00:21 We remain grateful to Amar Kanwar who worked with us and edited this issue,

00:25 and to everyone who gave us their poems and images, to the reporters who gathered the poems,

00:31 to the designers and researchers who made it all possible.

00:35 I Want to be Killed by an Indian Bullet by Thangjam Iboopishak Singh from Manipur,

00:41 translated from Manipuri by Robin S. Nangam.

00:45 I heard the news long ago that they were looking for me, in the morning, in the afternoon, at night.

00:51 My children told me, my wife told me. One morning, they entered my drawing room, the five of them.

00:58 Fire, water, air, earth, sky, are the names of these five.

01:03 They can create men, also destroy men at whim.

01:07 They do whatever they fancy, the very avatar of might.

01:11 I asked them, "When will you kill me?" The leader replied, "Now. We will kill you right now."

01:18 "Today is very auspicious. Say your prayers."

01:21 "Have you bathed? Have you had your meal? Why will you kill me? What is my crime?

01:27 What evil deed have I done?" I asked them again.

01:30 "Are you a poet who pens Gobbledygook and Rivel? Or do you consider yourself a seer with an oracular powers?

01:39 Or are you a madman?" asked the leader.

01:42 "I know that I am neither of the first two beings. I cannot tell you about the last one.

01:48 How can I myself tell you that I am unhinged or not?"

01:52 The leader said, "You can be whatever you would like to be.

01:56 We are not concerned about this or that. We will kill you now. Our mission is to kill men."

02:03 For this and more, read the year opener issue of Outlook.

#OutlookMagazine | I Want to be Killed by an Indian Bullet

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