The Temple of Afruza Akhtar
Even after having a mosque in the bosom
Afruza Akhtar was not at peace
Till she had a temple in her bosom.
Many stories are making rounds
Many hearsay and whispers.
But one thing is true that Afruza asked me—
Where from the bricks be brought to build the temple?
I said—
It needn’t be brought from Ayodhya or Vrindavan
Just fetch from the nearby kiln
Said—
Get Cement and sand from the petty shopkeeper
Near your hour house, the poorest one
The one who remained with the smallest shop because he couldn’t lie
And you need not fetch water from the river
Countless corpses floated down the river
in the clash for temple-mosque
How troubled the river was being forced to carry down those dead bodies
The rivers do not remain river any more Afruza
So to mix the mortar get water from the well
Filling into a pitcher
After the temple was made in the bosom of Afruza
How excited she was to tell me
Now Allah and Bhagwan relishes food
From the same plate in her bosom
Shares the same bed to sleep
I asked her—
How are they to look at?
Afruza said—
Both are in fact twins.
So now it has become rather difficult for her
To identify
Which one is Bhagwan
Which one is Allah
Translated by Bibekananda Choudhury
Nilim Kumar is a prominent Assamese poet and novelist.
Bibekananda Choudhury is a writer and translator based in Guwahati, Assam.