A Few Lines for the Heart

 
Listen, suppose your family found out about us!
Surprised? They could find out, couldn't they? And if they did,
what would happen then, tell me?
Suppose they also learned I'm from another faith.
Your parents would be the first to point fingers, wouldn't they?
And they'd say, "How low have you sunk? Lost your caste and lineage at last? That girl trapped you, son! Shame!"


Would you then trap your entire life in that one "shame"?


Suppose they suddenly discovered that whenever you got the chance
you'd sneak over to eat my cooking.
My fridge was always full of forbidden foods cooked for you.
You'd eat secretly, licking your fingers, filling your belly with that food every day.
Would they then rage and make you a sinner for the sin of shared meals?
Would they drag you to the prayer room and
make you swear before the deity
never to commit this sin of eating from my hands again? Wouldn't they?


Would you then forget all the joy of such sin, seeking virtue instead?


Suppose they somehow found out
that you loved caressing me, and
holding me close against your chest.
Sometimes you'd even cry from fear of losing me!
Learning this, would they call you a worm of hell?
Would they make you bathe in Ganges water, washing away sin to purify you? Wouldn't they?


Would you then, purified, take on the burden of performing last rites for all impurities?


When they learn exactly
how many nights you stayed awake making love with me!
Dawn would come to both of us together, on either side of the phone!
Learning this, they'd finally declare you characterless!
Piercing you with sharp, harsh words,
they'd tear your already torn heart a little more!


Would you cry terribly then? Would you throw me away from that torn heart...in wounded pride?


Suppose they found out
that your old phone is with me,
that we two have secretly set up an anonymous household,
that you and I have taken a small attic room,
that our new room is scattered with piles of happiness,
...knowing just this much, their tempers would flare! Furious,
they'd demand an account of your money, and say,
"If you go to that girl again, we'll both die!"


Such deaths happen year after year! Yet would you still push me away?


Suppose you got caught by them!
Mother is scolding you terribly!
Father, in his rage, slapped your cheek!
Your little sister is spitting disgust, saying "shame, shame!"
Everyone else is spreading gossip about you ear to ear, even spreading what never happened!


You'd surely be shaken! Would you break up this home then!...would you really do such a thing?


Now I come to the real point!
When you were drowning in terrible loneliness,
when you were dying every day,
when you were crying day and night,
...did they know about you then?
Could anyone see the scars on your burnt heart?
Did anyone care about that heart that was a volcano?
Your likes, your dislikes...did any of them know?
What you love, and what you don't...did any of them understand?
Did they think about you at all?
Did anyone even know who you truly are?


Someone knew it all! Loved you well, accepting you just as you are. Still loves you!


Yet look, this person
who cares for you in secret,
who understands what you cherish, who can sense your dislikes too,
who knows the reasons behind your dying-bad stories,
...you've shared your life with her,
sought happiness at her door, and found it too...
the moment they get wind of this, they'll all come
charging...like bulls with red cloth tied over their eyes! They'll break this home of ours...in one rush!


All the bastards in society understand religion, they don't understand the heart!
You stay obedient in their eyes,
keep your voice low under their judgment,
that's all they want!
Whether you die or live,
what does it matter to them?


God or Bhagavan, call Him whatever you wish,
Buddha or Jesus, call Him that—
He's the one who placed love in this heart!
Prayer or worship, call it what you will...there,
what else exists but love!
If love happens to be of different castes,
if there's no match in lineage and clan,
truly, whose loss is it?


When the heart consents, God consents too!
When the heart laughs, Bhagavan laughs as well!
Everyone knows this truth, yet no one accepts it!
This society only knows religion, it doesn't know human beings!