Stay stupid so the world pities you & leaves you alone. Listen to the musicbubbling in the boiling broth. Preserve that papaya peel on which the catleft its claw marks before it died. Observe how a laughing man opens hisbody to the world like a hibiscus. Apologize to the ice cube as it loses itsshape in your palm. Notice the delicate basket of light on the mango leaf.Smell the fragrant, floral notes of lemon zest when you feel exhausted toyour bones. Pulp words like guarantee, planning, stability, turn them into aring & hula hoop it on your waist. Trap a breath within your chest whenyou feel sad. Know a person beyond the shape of their limbs. Follow behindyour dog. See the starkness of stamens against lily petals to learnpatriarchal hierarchies. Feel hunger when you see a woman planting ricesubmerged in ankle-deep water. Think of incomplete kisses when a widowwipes the trickle of sweat before it reaches her lips. Learn that a kiss is thefourth basic necessity. Seek that kiss like a deer seeks a flash of light. Lingeron its sparkling eyes, its leaping body, its restless feet. Does it ever matter ifa bullet is shot, and its body becomes a vessel of blood? Look, instead, intoits eyes as astonishment outweighs death. Watch, scan, stare, gaze in a waythat it changes the world. When this doesn’t seem enough and you think ofyourself as a fool, understand that this is the nature of capitalism. Hide andtake refuge within yourself. The sole purpose of your life is to become apossibility. प्यारे बच्चे, अपने माँ-बाप की तरह समझदार मत बनना मूर्ख होना ताकि दुनिया तुम्हें बेचारा समझे और बक्श दे। अदहन में खदकता हुआ संगीत सुनना। संतरे केउस छिलके को बचाने का असाधारण प्रयास करना जिस पर बिल्ली मरने से पहले पंजे के निशान छोड़जाए। देखना कैसे हँसता हुआ आदमी गुड़हल के फूल की तरह अपना शरीर दुनिया की तरफ़ खोलता है।अपनी हथेली पर बर्फ़ के टुकड़े का आकार खोता देखकर माफ़ी माँगना। आम के पत्ते पर रोशनी का घोंसलादेखना। थकान से शरीर टूटने पर नींबू का छिलका सूँघना। गारंटी, प्लानिंग, स्टेबिलिटी जैसे शब्दों की लुगदीघोल कर पी जाना। ऊब या उदासी होने पर साँस रोककर देखना। इंसान को साबुत हाथ-पैर से ज्यादासमझना। अपने कुत्ते के पीछे-पीछे चलना। देखना कैसे पराग कुमुदनी की पत्तियों को रंगता है और पितृसत्ताके बारे में सोचना। सोचना भूख जब टखनों तक डूबी औरत को धान रोपते देखो। अधूरे चुम्बन के बारे मेंसोचना जब विधवा के चेहरे पर पसीने की लकीर को होठों तक आने से पहले पुँछता देखो। जानना चुम्बनचौथी मूलभूत आवश्यकता है। उस चुम्बन को ऐसे खोजना जैसे रोशनी को हिरण। उसकी चमकती आँखें,कुलाँचे भरता शरीर, पैरों की कुलबुलाहट देखना। क्या फ़र्क पड़ता है अगर तभी गोली चली और उसकाशरीर खून का पीपा बन गया। तुम उसकी आँखें देखना: कैसे विस्मय मौत की कालिख पर भारी पड़ता है।देखना, ध्यान से देखना, घूरकर देखना, इस तरह देखना कि तुम्हारे देखने से धरती बदल रही है। जब तुम्हें यहपर्याप्त न लगे और तुम समझदार बनने की कोशिश करो तो समझ लेना यह पूँजीवाद है। तब तुम तुरंत अपनेअंदर पनाह लेना। तुम्हारे जीवन का एकमात्र मक़सद है—केवल एक संभावना बनना।
Sweet child, do not be as wise as your parents
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Copyright © Kinshuk Gupta. By arrangement with the author. Translation copyright © 2025 by Dyuti Mishra. All rights reserved. First published in Words Without Borders June 16, 2025, and republished here by permission of Words Without Borders.
Kinshuk Gupta is a bilingual writer, poet, and columnist working at the intersection of gender, health and sexuality. His debut book of short fiction, Yeh Dil Hai Ki Chordarwaja, the first LGBT short story collection published in modern Hindi, was published to great critical acclaim in 2023, the English translation of which will be published by HarperCollins in 2025. Gupta has worked in editorial positions at prominent literary magazines such as Usawa Literary Review, Jaggery Lit and Mithila Review. His writing can be read at adda, Rattle, The Caravan, Frontline, Outlook, The Hindu, The Hindustan Times, and Live Mint, among others. He is working on his first poetry manuscript with Tishani Doshi as part of the South Asia Speaks fellowship.
June 16, 2025
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