The Abode of the Gods (Translation of Tamil poem)

தேவபூமி * -- (Deva Bhoomi) a Tamil poem by Ganesh Venkataraman (@hemgan on Twitter)

Here is the original

The translation


Abode of the the Gods
---------------------

Dig the tunnels
If the rivers come in the way
Change their course
Axe the trees
Build the dams
Dynamite the terrain
So you may scoop the earth
And push into the river
the splinters that fly

Scrape the mountain walls again
--so your cars may get
the right of way.

From roads ravaged by avalanches
let more rocks tumble into the river

Reshape the green cover
Into naked hills
Overhaul the woods and forests
And build rows upon rows upon rows
Of rest houses

Trade. Build. Sell.
Progress is your relentless goal

And then, if the little-towns disappear
You can rest on ancient myths
That had warned of destruction.


--Translated from Tamil by Narayanan Madhavan
(c) June, 2013