Stepan Bandera collapsed and died on the Kreittmayrstrasse 7 in Munich. It was October 15, 1959. The 50 year old Ukrainian apparently had a seizure, fell, broke his neck and died. An autopsy would reveal traces of cyanide, which would prompt local authorities to speculate that the death was a suicide. The truth would emerge much later when Bohdan Stashinky, a KGB operative defected to the Americans in 1961 ¹. Stashinky had assassinated Bandera, using a spray gun filled with hydrogen cyanide gas.

In solidarity with the various May Day rallies happening all over the world, Bodhi is reproducing here "The Martyred Apostles of Labor" by Eugene Victor Debs.

Disclaimer: The literal translations provided here are for a basic understanding of the poems, and in no way do justice to the poetic genius of Habib Jalib or to Urdu poetry. The poems are built around similes, metaphors and symbols that are difficult, if not impossible to translate.

The struggle of the workers becomes a class struggle only when all the foremost representatives of the entire working class of the whole country are conscious of themselves as a united entity and launch a struggle that is directed not against the individual employers but against the entire class of capitalists and against the government that supports that class. For the first time in independent India - with eleven trade union organisations and national federations of professionals calling for a joint action - such a struggle has materialized.

On that 14th of June in 1949, the audience present at the Tchaikovsky Hall had thoroughly enjoyed the concert. The powerful baritone voice of the American singer resonated inside the hall. The predominantly Russian audience, traditionally enamoured with the bass voice found the performance extremely pleasing. However, the concert was fast coming to an end and the audience was getting restless. It was then that the singer spoke from the stage, in near perfect Russian. He spoke about his warm friendship with Soviet Jews like Solomon Mikhoels and Yitzhak Feffer.

It was the new year of 1989. The Jana Natya Manch (JANAM) was performing a play, Halla Bol, in support of Ramanand Jha, CPI[M] candidate for the post of councilor in Ghaziabad. The play began at around 11am near Ambedkar Park before an eager crowd. Minutes into the play, Mukesh Sharma, the Congress opponent ot Jha made an unscripted entry into the scene. He demanded that the play be stopped and he and his entourage be allowed to pass through. The director of the play, Safdar Hashmi informed Sharma to either wait or take an alternative route as the play was already in progress.

നിങ്ങള്‍ ചോദിക്കുന്നു,
എന്തുകൊണ്ടാണ് അവന്റെ കവിത
ഇലകളെയും കിനാവുകളെയും
ജന്മനാട്ടിലെ കൂറ്റന്‍ അഗ്നിപര്‍വതങ്ങളേയും കുറിച്ചു സംസാരിക്കാത്തത്?
വരൂ, ഈ തെരുവുകളിലെ രക്തം കാണൂ,
വരൂ, കാണൂ
ഈ തെരുവുകളിലെ രക്തം.
വരൂ, രക്തം കാണൂ!
ഈ തെരുവുകളിലെ രക്തം.
- ചില കാര്യങ്ങളുടെ വിശദീകരണം, പാബ്ലൊ നെരൂദ
വിവര്‍ത്തനം: സച്ചിദാനന്ദന്‍

September 11 has perhaps been remembered in history for the wrong reason. Yes, it was on that day, in 2011, that the Frankstein monster unleashed by capitalism two decades earlier in the mountains of Afghanistan came back home; and yes, it was a terrifying homecoming. Perhaps more importantly, it was on this day, in 1973, that a murderous regime climbed the stairs of power after toppling Chile's democratically elected civilian government. For millions of ordinary Chileans and for the supporters of democracy worldwide, that date is a constant reminder about the fragility of freedom.

Poetry has always held within it the potential to bring about sweeping changes. It is perhaps for this potential that poets and poetry are feared by both the despot and the fanatic; for their worlds are built on absolute adherence to decadent dogmas and total servitude to blind beliefs. Poetry has the power to ridicule the dogma and question the belief. Luckily for them, most of the poets choose to work on a realm of pure fantasy. The sweat, toil and tears of the real world rarely find their way into the world of the poet. But then, there are other poets-the exceptions to the general rule.

ഫേസ്ബുക്ക്-ബ്ലോഗ്-പ്ലസ്സാദികളില്‍ ഏതെങ്കിലും ഇടതന്‍ തന്റെ രാഷ്ട്രീയ കാഴ്ചപ്പാട് വ്യക്തമാക്കിയാലോ, ഒരു കാര്യം പറഞ്ഞ് സമര്‍ത്ഥിക്കാന്‍ ശ്രമിച്ചാലോ ഉടനെ മാര്‍ക്കറ്റ്-ബോയ്സ്* പ്രത്യക്ഷപ്പെട്ട് വിളിച്ച് കൂവും "താത്വിക അവലോകനം, താത്വിക അവലോകനം" എന്ന്. ആ കൂവല്‍ കേട്ടാല്‍ പിന്നെ ഇടതന്‍ കമാന്ന് മിണ്ടരുത്! അതാണ് അലിഖിത നിയമം. ഇനി അഥവാ മിണ്ടിയാല്‍ ഉടനെ മാര്‍ക്കറ്റ്-ബോയ്സ് ചോദിക്കും "പോളണ്ടില്‍ എന്തു സംഭവിച്ചു?".

"വെള്ളത്തിന്റെ വിലയൊക്കെ സര്‍ക്കാര്‍ ഒന്ന് പുതുക്കി നിശ്ചയിക്കണം. ഇപ്പൊ എന്തൊരു വിലക്കുറവാ.. തനി പകല്‍കൊള്ള!” പറയുന്നത് ബാര്‍ബര്‍ഷാപ്പില്‍ രാഷ്ട്രീയവിവാദങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് തിരി കൊളുത്തുന്ന ശശിയണ്ണന്‍ അല്ല. മൊണ്‍ടെക് സിങ്ങ് അലുവാലിയജി ആണ്. ഇന്ത്യയുടെ ആസൂത്രണ കമ്മീഷന്റെ ഉപാധ്യക്ഷന്‍. മന്‍മോഹന്‍ജിക്ക് കാര്യം അറിയാം - ആസൂത്രിതവികസനം എന്നത് സാമ്പത്തികശാസ്ത്രത്തിന് പറ്റിയ ഒരു അബദ്ധമാണ്. ഇന്ത്യയുടെ ആസൂത്രിത വികസനത്തിന്റെ ചുക്കാന്‍ പിടിച്ച പി. സി. മഹലനോബിസ് നല്ല രീതിയില്‍ 'ചുവപ്പ്' ആയിരുന്നു. ചുവപ്പ് എന്നു പറഞ്ഞാല്‍ ഈ മാര്‍ക്സും ലെനിനും ഒക്കെ വായിക്കുന്ന "ടൈപ്പ്".

It was on December 25,1991 that the red banner of the Soviet Union was lowered over the Kremlin for the last time. A nation and a system that posed the only credible challenge to the capitalist dream on global domination was slipping into history. The Soviet Union, protected by its massive Red Army, aided by its ruthless KGB security apparatus, abetted by its propaganda-fed labour unions, inhabited by a pension assured citizenry, guided by a largely geriatric leadership, imploded due to the inherent internal contradictions of Stalinism.