That I may be reborn as a human in Punjab,
to this very land I may return
To this hacked, chewed up earth,
in a modest home
Of a modest caste I may be known
On a leafless tree an unlucky bird
I may sing that very song of separation
On the moonless night I may visit His Pond of Nectar*
On the full-moon night I may bathe in the river Chenab of
love.
*Amritsar (lit. pond of nectar) – Sikhs’ holiest shrine
-Harbhajan Singh
(Translated by Madan Gopal Singh)
photograph by Amarjit Chandan
