Power of One

If there’s one thing worth noting about Mahatma Gandhi, an Indian lawyer leader who lived through the years of British Empire, it would be his advocacy of world peace, evident in his influence to the world after tirelessly seeking to unify Moslems and Hindus in his homeland. 

Copyright. Ben Heine 

His nonviolent initiative to achieve peace between and among his fellow Indians took the world by storm and has been immortalized in the hearts of many peace-loving people, including political leaders worldwide.

Even when he was young, Mahatma Gandhi already naturally had an instinct to work to dismantle differences between people by taking efforts to liberate the oppressed from their oppressors. Inspired by his personal experience of discrimination by the British in South Africa, he rallied for equality between and among Indians and the white race. The initiatives he took created a large following in and outside the British colony.

Going back to his homeland India, Gandhi, now popular for his South African rights initiative, continued to work as a lawyer and journalist and vowed to address inequality prevalent in their country through nonviolent means.

Such privilege to be looked up to by the rest of the world as a role model virtually gave Gandhi the opportunity to cultivate his personal vision for peace, which is best seen through his conscious pursuit of dharma, the highest good in Indian belief—and his own desire to constantly set an example of sacrifice for the sake of others.

Through his own intermittent jail terms which he served for the cause he found worth fighting for, Mahatma Gandhi showed his followers and admirers how to consciously pursue the good—both in words and in action—by this time he had now become a person of great fame and influence, a personal icon for anyone on what is right and wrong.

Articulate as a lawyer and diplomatic in his relations with the affairs of the state, Gandhi constantly protested against hostilities and conflicts arising from racial and cultural differences and religious fanaticism. Fasting to stage protest against riots, Gandhi showed that peace can be achieved through inner peace.

In so doing, Gandhi’s vision for the world to become a more livable place had not gone unnoticed. World leaders began to recognize the importance of such an unassuming, merciful—similarly Christian—attitude in the conduct of human affairs.

By now, the British Empire, after not being able to find any way out to [stay in control of] India—ironically barraged by Gandhi’s quiet means of protest lasting through a number of years—finally granted independence to India.

Not long after, the Indian independence further gave way to more spaces where oppressed groups of people can voice out personal and national freedom—and this included the movement of the Moslem-dominated part of India to be later called Pakistan, which seceded from the Indian sovereignty, later creating more tensions between the two races.

While incessant conflicts between Hindus and Moslems still persist today, mahatma Gandhi’s consistent and sincere pursuit of the peace through nonviolent means in order to solve the issue of differences have simply been enormous to inspire people all over the world to similarly work for peace.

Solely, his life inspired other world leaders to properly address conflicts, discrimination, and social unrest between and among social and religious classes, paving the way for a more tolerant community living in harmony despite diversity.

In June of that year

In June of that year, you started tutoring Seth, a freshman and Zandro, a sophomore—both were newcomers in the school where you chose to teach.

Seth appeared cool and quiet, but there was much eagerness when he started talking about himself, his participation in class and school activities, and other things he does in school or at home. He was a growing young boy whose parents whom you chanced to meet desired much good for him. Composed, serene, you saw in him a promising young man who will make a name for himself.

Meanwhile, Zandro was the bubbly type, always wearing a smile, and always less serious and preferred to read ghost stories, not to mention that he was an avid online gamer himself. He wanted to be a nurse because he wanted much money—lots of it. He said he would have to work abroad so he could always provide for himself. Also, he always wanted to eat.

Every now and then you would excuse the two boys from their classes to chat with them. To you they always sounded hopeful—in anticipation of the chats with you. You would talk to them about how to help their parents do chores in the house, study harder so they would not flunk any class or be good sons to their parents. You also talked to them about how to gain friends in school. Seth said he had new friends—all of the freshmen were his friends. The playful Zandro confessed how he would participate in the sophomores’ horseplay in between class sessions or even during classes.

In your chats, you approached them like they were your younger brothers. At first you mentally prepared your questions for them. Later, you would just talk to them very casually. Through the days, they had become your friends, so to speak. The chats you had had with them had gone smooth and personal, like they were your younger brothers. Your words would usually end up as friendly pieces of advice for these young boys growing up. And how your words sounded real and convincing to them.

Every time you talked to them, you thought you saw yourself in them. You saw enthusiasm in the things they did or wanted to do. They were struggling to become themselves. Full of hope and anticipation, the boys had a lot to live and to learn. They always appeared as if they had to know a lot of things.

Continually you had told them how to be always good, and would always ask them about how they would fare up to virtues like charity and service, honesty and truthfulness, diligence and stuff. Talking about these virtues with these boys made you aware of your own shortcomings. It made you start to ask your own life question. It made you want to quantify your own sense of achievement.

Though you’d gone that far, you had not really gotten far enough to try to live sensibly—with a definite purpose. You thought you had to have a definite purpose. Just like them, then, you seemed to long to fling your arms wide open to the world and take on what life really had in store for you.

Bread and Butter

Dae Mahaloy

Dae mahaloy, manonôdan mo na dikit sana an diperensya

kan pagkapot nin sarong kamot sa pagpugol nin sarong kalag.

Manonôdan mo na an mamoot bakong pagsandig,

asin an pakikiiba sainda bakong paghurandig. 

Manonôdan mo na an hadok bakong sarong kontrata;

asin an mga itinaong regalo bakong mga promisa. 

Popo’nan mong maakô an saimong mga kadaugan

na nakatungkahal an payo asin buklat an mata,

siring sa tigulang na igwang disposisyon,

bakong pusngak na nagpupurong-pusong. 

Papatagon mo na ngonyan an saimong aagihan,

nin huli ta an alagyan para sa aga mayo nin

kasiguruhan para saimong pagplanuhan. 

Dae mahaloy, manonôdan mong dawa

an saldang nakakatutong kun mangânan ka. 

Kun siring, ngonyan, dukaga an saimong tatanuman;

dekoraran an saimong kalag; dae ka na maghalat

sa sarong tawong maduhol saimo nin burak. 

Manonôdan mo na makakaantos nanggad ika;

na ika abang kusog asin labi kahalaga.

Mga Sinurublian

tigulang, Hiligaynon. gurang

alagyan, Hiligaynon. Agihan

Sinusog sa "After a While" ni Veronica A. Shoffstall [sinurat 1971]  na pinadara ni Norie Malazarte sa kagsurat kan 1997.

Yaman

Trees

To be a giant and keep quiet about it,

To stay in one’s own place;

To stand for the constant presence of process

And always to seem the same;

To be steady as a rock and always trembling,

Having the hard appearance of death

With the soft, fluent nature of growth,

One’s Being deceptively armored,

One’s Becoming deceptively vulnerable,

To be so tough, and take the light so well,

Freely providing forbidden knowledge

Of so many things about heaven and earth

For which we should otherwise have no word—

 

Poems or people are rarely so lovely,

And even when they have great qualities

They tend to tell you rather than exemplify

What they believe themselves to be about,

While from the moving silence of trees,

Whether in storm or calm, in leaf and naked,

Night or day, we draw conclusions of our own,

Sustaining and unnoticed as our breath,

And perilous also—though there has never been

A critical tree—about the nature of things.

 

Howard Nemerov [1920-1991]

Mirrors and Windows, 1958

Swimming sa Tangâ

Kansuarin tong nagkararigos kita

na Lolo Enteng sa dagat, itong garo

haranihon na kita sa Mauban?

Tanda ko kadto—pig-itsa niya ko

sa hararomon sa tahaw. Nag-irirarom

ako, dai baya tataong maglangoy.

Si irarom kan tubig madiklomon, dai

ko nakakahangos, nagkaralaugan

lugod nin tubig si talinga ko.

Nagbutwa ako, nagpaparakampay.

Tapos luminangoy parani si Lolo sako.

Maray ta nagâwal ko si likod niya,

nagkuyabit ako saiya. Nagpaparangirisi

kamo, nagpaparahibi ako.

Pag-uruli, nagralakaw kita pabalik sa Iraya.

Tapos may nahiling kita katong kadakul-

dakul na salabay, sa baybayon pig-aaratong.

Sa baybay, sinda garong nagkakaramang.

An iba, sa pampang nagkakaaralang.

Diskriminasyon

Susog sa “Discrimination” ni Kenneth Rexroth 

Mayo kong pakiaram sa mga tawo. 

Treinta y singko anyos na akong tood sainda. 

Anong labot ko kun makataid ko sinda sa jeep, 

O makasabay pagkakan sa mga restaurant, o sa lamesa.

Dai lang ko uyon kun an babaying ginagalang ko 

Makibayli sa saro sainda. Haloy ko na siyang 

Inagda sa harong pero habo niya man nanggad.

Mayo kong labot kun maski ngani si Irmana 

Makaagom nin saro sainda. Sabihon ta na sanang 

Namoot siya duman, pero isipa baya an saindang mga aki. 

An sistema ninda guro interesante, pero makangiri. 

Pustahan, ta kun igwa sana gayod oportunidad, 

Sarong aga, puwede na sana ninda kitang saralakaton. 

Akua baya’, abang babata’ baga ninda.   




2001/2011

Ná-ingás Si Kulás

             Náuranán siya maghapon.

Pigparahápag niya an Damulag na sa umá

tuminandáyag. Papuli na sa dálan, inawitan

niya an mga Manok na naghaharapon;

             uni na an Sinárom.

             Náumangan siya kan Bitúon.

Udô kan Damulag na natûmakan

sa Dalan mayong parong. Daing salugsog

an hibô kan Gúgon; an tunok kan Turog-

turog bakong hararom.

             Ná-úm-om siya kan Diklom.

Dawa sain maduman siya karon; ilusyon

sa Ilawod papasyaron; an baylihan sa Catigsan

dadayuhon; sa diklom kan dalan, paduman

             sa Kasiráman, mápahálon.

Relihyón

Buót silingón siní igwáng mas oróg kalangkáw na Kaglaláng na kun dai ta man kinakámo’tan, satong kinakahádlokan. Kadto, dai mo nanggad pagpaángguton an mga aníto ta nganing bulígan ka ninda, ta ngarig ihátag nila saimo an ginapangáyô mo. Ngonyan na panahon, sa pagtubód kan ibang mga agít-agitán na relihyón, mas igwa nin kamanungdanan kun an kinaugalíngon nagatúo sa mga linaláng na mas halangkáw saíya, o bagáman minátubod dángan nag-uutób sa mga gawí-gáwi o mga pagkasábot na makakabúlig saíya kun pa’no mabuhay, o sa pagpangítâ kun ano an ginapanúmdon kan Bathala, kan Diyos, kan Palíbot, kan Tao o kun ano man na Kusóg na nagpapapangyári sa gabos. Dawa anong relihyón marhay man basta dai ni minapalangkábâ o magpaháslô sa táwo. Magi kang relihyoso, sábi, alágad magi kang síring ta ngáni sanáng mapaáyo an sadíri mo. Mayo ni saro satô an may áram kan kamatuóran. Siling ganî ka’yan ni San Pablo, “an iba bal-an ta kag an ibán pa tinotôdan ta na sana.”

Mga Sinurublian sa Hiligaynon

Silingón, sabihon

Siní, kaini

Kinakahádlokan, kinakatakutan

Ihátag, itao

Nilá, ninda

Ginapangáyô, hinahagad

Kinaugalíngon, sadiri

Nagatúo, matubod

Pagpangítâ, paghanap, pag-áram

Ginapanúmdom, iniisip

Magpaháslô, maparaot

Mapaáyo, mapamarhay

Kamatuóran, katotoohan

Gáni, ngani

Bál-an, áram

Kag, dangan

Ibán, ibá

Biligaynon [Binikol sagkod Hiniligayon] kan “Religion.” Yaon sa Worldy Virtues: A Catalogue of Reflections ni Johannes A. Gaertner, Viking Press, 1990.

Fallacies and Truths