een bloemknop ging open als een lotus
met de geur van een roos

saktihin paral god men
sabdhin ánkhi khol


het water noch het licht
kleur noch smaak

met een glunderend gelaat
lig je week in de schoot
sprakeloos, de ogen open

Gedichten van Jit Narain

Jit Narain (1948) is a third generation descendant of Indian indentured laborers brought to Surinam (1873-1917) by the Dutch. In 1968 he went to study medicine in Holland where he was wept in by the second wave of nationalism among students from Surinam. This resulted in his embracing his mother tongue, Sarnámi, the homegrown language forged out of the regional North Indian languages that this forebears

brought along from India, and the only Indic language spoken in the Western Hemisphere. In 1977 Mr. Narain published his first collection of poetry. This was followed by seven more collections, the latest in January 2004.
In 1982 he started, edited en published a magazine, appropriately called Sarnámi, entirely written and devoted tot the promotion, use and development of that language. For a period of five years he practically single-handedly financed and filled this magazine every month. In 1987 he was awarded the Rahman Khan Prize in Surinam for his linguistic and literary achievements and in 1988 his collected poetry was introduced in India. In 1991 he returned to Surinam and settled as a farmer and country doctor without, however, neglecting his literary word. In 2003 he was honoured with the prestigious Diaspora Award presented by Indian literary critics whereby both his poetry and Sarnámi gained international recognition.

Enkele gedichten
ÁLHÁ
Gedicht 2
Gedicht 3

1