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swept over India, the country's newspapers began to cover the crisis by publishing disturbing images, including those of massed corpses of people suspected of dying from COVID-19, on their front pages. Cremation facilities were overwhelmed by the sharp rise in the demand for funerals. Patients died
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The locus of her image, the Ganges river, is a core symbol of sacredness and is well known as such throughout India. The poem evokes the ire of the virus as it leaves a trail of death, as abandoned dead bodies float along the river, the smokes arise from funerary pyres, and the chimneys in
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crematoria undergo a meltdown from the number of bodies they had to incinerate. The piece, as a lament for the dead, lists a number of collateral effects of the pandemic, including the scarcity of pallbearers and mourners, and the drying up of the flow of tears.
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The poem received both praises and criticism, and immediately became popular as comments on social media picked it up and multiplied it exponentially. It was translated into several languages including
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After the publication of this editorial, which appeared to defend the Indian government, around 169 Gujarati writers issued a statement demanding its withdrawal. Some of the signatories included
343:. Without explicitly mentioning "Shav Vahini Ganga", the editorial dismissed it as "pointless angst expressed in a state of agitation" and called those who discussed or shared the poem "literary
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where the sacred river Ganga serves as a hearse for corpses. In writing of the city that "burns as he fiddles", the Prime
Minister, without being directly named, is likened to the Roman Emperor
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444:, a journal edited by Prakash N. Shah. In the issue, around half of the 16 contributions were written by the signatories of the statement and consisted of literary protests challenging the
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on 16 May 2021. While calling the criticism of the government's handling of the pandemic "fashionable", she blamed the general populace for not following the COVID-19-related guidelines.
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due to a lack of oxygen cylinders. Moved by these media reports, Parul
Khakhar wrote a Gujarati-language poem called "Shav Vahini Ganga". On 11 May 2021, when she posted the poem on
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noted users of social media posted over 28,000 abusive comments reacting to her allusion to the responsibility of the Indian government.
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and attributes the government's inaction to the deaths that occurred during the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. The poem describes
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Khakhar was acclaimed for writing "such a powerful and brave poem" but was also "bombarded with abusive messages".
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on 21 May 2021, along with their commentary on the poem. The Hindi translation was done by Ilyas Sheikh.
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of representation and transformation are put aside, and language is used as a weapon against the state.
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130:. Her verses attracted widespread attention, particularly on social media, after she posted the poem on
170:"Shav Vahini Ganga" is a 14-line poem with an AABBAA rhyme scheme. The poem is written in the style of
702:"'Conspiracy' by 'Literary Naxals': Gujarat Sahitya Akademi Criticises Poem on Corpses Found in Ganga"
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992:"Gujarati Writers, Poets and Artists Condemn State Sahitya Academy For Maligning Poet Parul Khakkar"
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554:"BJP Furious as Top Gujarati Poet Blames 'Naked King' Modi for Corpses Floating in the Ganga"
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510:"Parul Khakhar: The Indian Stay-at-home Mum Trolled For Poem on Covid Dead"
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O King, in your Ram-Rajya, do you see the bodies flowing along the Ganges?
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672:"Flogged, Imprisoned, Murdered: Today, Being a Poet Is a Dangerous Job"
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961:"Litterateurs Demand Withdrawal of Gujarat Sahitya Akademi Editorial"
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474:"The Pandemic Poetry of Indians Has Roused Readers Far and Wide"
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The following month, an editorial appeared in the June issue of
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793:"Gujarati Poem Criticises Govt's Handling of Covid Resurgence"
762:"Ein Gedicht erschÞttert Indien: Im Ganges flieÃt nur der Tod"
633:"The Poem That's Channelling India's Anger About the Pandemic"
195:, the prime minister of India, as a "naked king" ruling a
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O King, this entire city has at last seen your real face
134:. The poem has been translated into several languages.
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and Salil
Tripathi compared "Shav Vahini Ganga" with
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329:Gujarat Sahitya Akademi's criticism and responses
887:"āŠŪāŠūāŠŊ āŠļāŦāŠŠāŦāŠļ: āŠĶāŦāŠāŠ āŠŠāŠūāŠ°āŠūāŠĩāŠūāŠ°... āŠŪāŦāŠ āŠ āŠļāŠ°āŠāŠūāŠ° !"
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860:[Poetry of Resistance] (in Gujarati).
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1074:Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in India
213:The people of India are called upon to:
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319:published an article about the poem in
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118:, the Hearse of Corpses") is a 2021
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187:The poem implicitly criticises the
682:from the original on 4 August 2021
265:published a German translation in
217:Come out and shout and say it loud
203:. Modi is addressed in the lines:
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1064:Works about the COVID-19 pandemic
219:The naked King is lame and weak.
990:Desai, Nachiketa (18 Jun 2021).
899:from the original on 18 May 2021
1029:Translated versions of the poem
864:from the original on 2021-06-28
833:from the original on 2021-06-28
590:"The Uncertainty of the Artist"
552:Trivedi, Deepal (15 May 2021).
508:Biswas, Soutik (20 June 2021).
791:Devkala, Mehul (20 May 2021).
766:Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
268:Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
16:Gujarati poem by Parul Khakhar
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959:Sharma, Ritu (18 Jun 2021).
923:Sharma, Ritu (10 Jun 2021).
588:Susan, Nisha (25 Jun 2021).
315:The popular Gujarati writer
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768:(in German). 21 May 2021.
153:As the second wave of the
1024:Gujarati text of the poem
297:The Emperor's New Clothes
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827:"'āŠķāŠŽāŠĩāŠūāŠđāŠŋāŠĻāŦ āŠāŠāŠāŠū'āŠĻāŦ āŠļāŠūāŠāŦ"
189:Narendra Modi government
341:Gujarat Sahitya Akademi
292:Hans Christian Andersen
378:Gulam Mohammed Sheikh
176:, an elegiac poem or
85:11 May 2021
339:, a publication of
124:Indian government's
23:"Shav Vahini Ganga"
965:The Indian Express
929:The Indian Express
883:Vaidya, Kaajal Oza
426:Sharifa Vijaliwala
358:The Indian Express
1049:Poems in Gujarati
317:Kaajal Oza Vaidya
155:COVID-19 pandemic
128:COVID-19 pandemic
112:Shab-Vahini Ganga
108:Shav Vahini Ganga
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1054:Indian poems
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402:Praful Raval
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374:Babu Suthar
355:, wrote in
302:Babu Suthar
241:, English,
166:Composition
1044:2021 poems
1038:Categories
903:5 December
868:2021-09-29
837:2021-09-29
594:Mintlounge
452:References
442:Nireekshak
430:Suman Shah
398:Panna Naik
390:Kamal Vora
370:Anil Joshi
138:Background
89:2021-05-11
807:6 October
706:Scroll.in
524:6 October
488:6 October
243:Malayalam
224:Reception
197:Ram Rajya
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736:The Wire
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598:Archived
562:Archived
558:The Wire
518:Archived
514:BBC News
482:Archived
294:'s tale
231:Assamese
160:Facebook
132:Facebook
120:Gujarati
66:Gujarati
62:Language
49:May 2021
310:poetics
251:Punjabi
247:Marathi
235:Bengali
173:Marsiya
148:Gujarat
87: (
54:Country
46:Written
975:29 Sep
647:29 Sep
604:29 Sep
568:29 Sep
345:Naxals
144:Amreli
116:Ganges
110:" or "
77:AABBAA
1006:8 Oct
939:8 Oct
776:8 Oct
746:8 Oct
716:8 Oct
255:Tamil
239:Hindi
178:dirge
97:Lines
57:India
1008:2021
977:2021
941:2021
905:2021
809:2021
778:2021
748:2021
718:2021
688:2021
649:2021
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570:2021
526:2021
490:2021
478:Mint
261:and
253:and
201:Nero
347:".
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