Mother Tongue
by Padma Sachdev
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Translated from Dogri, the poem expresses the poet's deep emotional attachment to her mother tongue through the central symbol of a quill (pen). The poet approaches a reed and asks it for a quill. The reed, irritated, says it gave her one only recently and asks whether she is some accountant working for a Shah, needing a new pen every day. The poet replies that she works not for a Shah but for a Shahni, a kind, well-off mistress with many devoted servants, and that this Shahni is her mother tongue, Dogri. She urgently needs a quill because the Shahni must be looking for her. Moved, the reed cuts off its own hand, gives it to her, and says, 'Take it, / I too am her servant.' The poem is a moving tribute to the mother tongue and a lament for the deprivation of Dogri of its native script.
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The request for a quill
The poet approaches a stem 'swinging on a reed' and asks it for a quill (pen). The reed is irritated and says it gave her a new one only the other day, asking what she has done with it, is she some accountant working for a Shah, needing a fresh pen every other day?
Service to the Shahni
The poet replies that she does not work for a Shah but for a Shahni, very kind and well off, and that she is not the only one serving her; the Shahni has many servants ever ready to do her bidding. This gracious mistress, the poet reveals, is her mother tongue, Dogri.
The reed's sacrifice
The poet urgently asks for the quill, for the Shahni must be looking for her. Moved, the reed cuts off its own hand, gives it to her, and says, 'Take it, / I too am her servant.' The reed's willing self-sacrifice shows that everything in nature serves and honours the mother tongue.