It is a small poster, with a longish quote typed in a rather small font, carrying a face not too familiar to the thousands walking by. Thus, suspended on a bamboo, in front of a tractor, in the midst of this fair of solidarity, this celebration of resistance, one encounters Manto.
Here he in the
company of Bhagat Singh and of Banda Singh Bahadur. Probably, unfamiliar
territory for him, but not for his writings. His words, undivided by partition,
speak for him.
‘Sahit taan
tapman hai apne desh da, apni kaum da – Sahit apne desh, kaum te usdi sehat ate
bimari di khabar dinda rehanda hai. Purani almari de kise khane vichon
mitti-ghate naal bhari koi kitab chukko, beete hoye samein di nabaz tuhadiyan
ungla heth dhadakdi lagegi.’
‘Literature is
the pulse of one’s country, one’s community – Literature tells the news of
health and illness of one’s country and community. From the shelves of an old
almirah pick a dust laden book, you will feel the pulse of the past beat under
your fingers.’
In his dedication ਇਹ ਮੇਲਾ ਹੈ ‘Eh mela hai’ ‘This is a carnival’ to the farmers movement, to those currently camping at Delhi Borders, Surjit Patar answers the state’s misleading question on who is participating in these protests.
ਇਹਦੇ ਵਿਚ ਧਰਤ ਸ਼ਾਮਲ,
ਬਿਰਖ, ਪਾਣੀ, ਪੌਣ ਸ਼ਾਮਲ ਨੇ
Soil is here,
Trees, water, air are here,
ਇਹਦੇ ਵਿਚ ਸਾਡੇ ਹਾਸੇ,
ਹੰਝੂ, ਸਾਡੇ ਗੌਣ ਸ਼ਾਮਲ ਨੇ
Our laughter,
our tears, our songs are here,
ਤੇ ਤੈਨੂੰ ਕੁਝ ਪਤਾ
ਹੀ ਨਈਂ ਇਹਦੇ ਵਿਚ ਕੌਣ ਸ਼ਾਮਲ ਨੇ
And you don’t
know, who is here?
ਇਹਦੇ ਵਿਚ ਪੁਰਖਿਆਂ
ਦਾ ਰਾਂਗਲਾ ਇਤਿਹਾਸ ਸ਼ਾਮਲ ਹੈ
Our
forefather’s celebrated history is here,
ਇਹਦੇ ਵਿਚ ਸਿਦਕ ਸਾਡਾ,
ਸਬਰ, ਸਾਡੀ ਆਸ ਸ਼ਾਮਲ ਹੈ
Our faith,
patience, our hope is here,
ਇਹਦੇ ਵਿਚ ਸ਼ਬਦ, ਸੁਰਤੀ,
ਧੁਨ ਅਤੇ ਅਰਦਾਸ ਸ਼ਾਮਲ ਹੈ
Our words,
awareness, passion and prayer are here
ਤੇ ਤੈਨੂੰ ਕੁਝ ਪਤਾ
ਹੀ ਨਈਂ
And you don’t
know?
ਇਹਦੇ ਵਿਚ ਵਰਤਮਾਨ,
ਅਤੀਤ ਨਾਲ ਭਵਿੱਖ ਸ਼ਾਮਲ ਹੈ
Present is
here, past and future are here,
ਇਹਦੇ ਵਿਚ ਹਿੰਦੂ ਮੁਸਲਮ,
ਬੁੱਧ, ਜੈਨ ਤੇ ਸਿੱਖ ਸ਼ਾਮਲ ਹੈ
Hindu, Muslim,
Budh, Jain and Sikh are here
ਬੜਾ ਕੁਝ ਦਿਸ ਰਿਹਾ
ਤੇ ਕਿੰਨਾ ਹੋਰ ਅਦਿੱਖ ਸ਼ਾਮਿਲ ਹੈ
Many things one
sees, and much unseen is here
ਇਹ ਮੇਲਾ ਹੈ
This is a
carnival.
Manto will be pleased that Patar sahab has recorded the
pulse of today.
Manto will be pleased to know that over two hundred poems
dedicated to the farmers movement have been written and are published as
‘dharat vangare takhat nu’ ‘soil challenges the crown’.
Manto will be pleased to know that from celebrated writers
and singers to young ten year olds, all are penning stories and songs for the
movement.
Manto will be pleased to glance at the first edition of
TrolleyTimes.
And much more than that Manto will be pleased to take a walk through the tractor-trolley townships and see elderly and young holding books, learning from their glorious past, from those whose posters surround the one Manto finds himself on. Every few hundred meters there is a collection of books, some better organized, some just sitting in tokras (large baskets).
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