Nirmala Putul, "About Adivasi Girls" (poem translated from Hindi)
Source: https://www.hindwi.org/kavita/adiwasi-ladakiyon-ke-bare-mein-nirmala-putul-kavita?sort=popularity-desc
Black on the outside,
but within, they are calm and white —
like their shining teeth.
When they laugh, it is a foamy-milk kind of laughter,
pure and unguarded,
and then — like a cascade —
sweet water springs gush
from the womb of the mountain.
With green and yellow leaves tucked in their hair,
when they dance in rows
to the beat of the *mandal* drum,
when spring arrives out of season,
and in the fields
they plant and harvest crops,
they sing songs —
and in singing,
they forget the pain of life.
So it has been said.
But who has spoken
such grand lies about them?
Who?
Surely it must have been someone from our own kind —
a well-fed man,
a shameless trader
who wraps truth in fog,
most likely a poet,
cheating with words,
crippled in mind.
Translation assisted by ChatGPT.