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{{short description|Gujarati poem by Parul Khakhar}}
{{Infobox poem
|name = "Shav Vahini Ganga"
|author = Parul Khakhar
|original_title = શબવાહિની ગંગા
|original_title_lang = gu
|translator =
|written = May 2021
|country = India
|language = [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]
|subject =
|form =
|rhyme = AABBAA
|publication_date = {{Start date|2021|5|11|df=y}}
|lines = 14
}}

"'''Shav Vahini Ganga'''" or "'''Shab-Vahini Ganga'''" (English: "[[Ganges]], the Hearse of Corpses") is a 2021 [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]-language poem that was written by Indian poet Parul Khakhar. The poem criticises the [[Modi government|Indian government's]] handling of the [[COVID-19 pandemic in India|COVID-19 pandemic]]. Her verses attracted widespread attention, particularly on social media, after she posted the poem on [[Facebook]]. The poem has been translated into several languages.

==Background==
Parul Khakhar is a Gujarati-language poet from [[Amreli]], [[Gujarat]], India.<ref name="Salil Tripathi 2021"/> She was fifty-one years old when she wrote "Shav Vahini Ganga" ("A Hearse called Ganges").<ref name="Biswas 2021"/>

As the second wave of the [[COVID-19 pandemic in India|COVID-19 pandemic]] 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 due to a lack of oxygen cylinders. Moved by these media reports, Parul Khakhar wrote a Gujarati-language poem called "Shav Vahini Ganga".<ref name="Biswas 2021">{{cite web|last=Biswas|first=Soutik|title=Parul Khakhar: The Indian Stay-at-home Mum Trolled For Poem on Covid Dead|website=BBC News|date=20 June 2021|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57499775|access-date=6 October 2021|archive-date=6 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006213655/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57499775|url-status=live}}</ref> On 11 May 2021, when she posted the poem on [[Facebook]], it went viral and was soon translated into several languages.<ref name="The Wire 2021">{{cite web|first=Deepal|last=Trivedi|title=BJP Furious as Top Gujarati Poet Blames 'Naked King' Modi for Corpses Floating in the Ganga|website=The Wire|date=15 May 2021|url=https://thewire.in/the-arts/parul-khakkar-gujarati-poem-ganga-bodies-covid|access-date=29 Sep 2021|archive-date=7 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211007163520/https://thewire.in/the-arts/parul-khakkar-gujarati-poem-ganga-bodies-covid|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Susan 2021">{{cite web|last=Susan|first=Nisha|title=The Uncertainty of the Artist|website=Mintlounge|date=25 Jun 2021|url=https://lifestyle.livemint.com//news/opinion/the-uncertainty-of-the-artist-111624546470174.html|access-date=29 Sep 2021|archive-date=29 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210929183849/https://lifestyle.livemint.com//news/opinion/the-uncertainty-of-the-artist-111624546470174.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The translations also went viral on social media.<ref name="The Wire 2021"/>

==Composition==
"Shav Vahini Ganga" is a 14-line poem with an AABBAA rhyme scheme.<ref name="The Wire 2021"/> The poem is written in the style of ''[[Marsiya]]'', an elegiac poem or [[dirge]].<ref name="Salil Tripathi 2021">{{cite news|last=Tripathi|first=Salil|author-link=Salil Tripathi|title=The Pandemic Poetry of Indians Has Roused Readers Far and Wide|newspaper=Mint|date=27 May 2021|url=https://www.livemint.com/opinion/columns/the-pandemic-poetry-of-indians-has-roused-readers-far-and-wide-11622046743039.html|access-date=6 October 2021|archive-date=6 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006212445/https://www.livemint.com/opinion/columns/the-pandemic-poetry-of-indians-has-roused-readers-far-and-wide-11622046743039.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The locus of her image, the Ganges river, is a core symbol of sacredness and is well known as such throughout India.<ref name="Tripathi 2021">{{cite news|last=Tripathi|first=Salil|author-link=Salil Tripathi|newspaper=the Guardian|date=28 May 2021|title=The Poem That's Channelling India's Anger About the Pandemic|url=http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/28/poem-india-pandemic-gujarati-covid-narendra-modi|access-date=29 Sep 2021|archive-date=9 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009193148/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/28/poem-india-pandemic-gujarati-covid-narendra-modi|url-status=live}}</ref> 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 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.<ref name="Doshi 2021"/>

The poem implicitly criticises the [[Modi government|Narendra Modi government]] and attributes the government's inaction to the deaths that occurred during the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic.<ref name="Scroll 2021">{{cite web|title='Conspiracy' by 'Literary Naxals': Gujarat Sahitya Akademi Criticises Poem on Corpses Found in Ganga|website=Scroll.in|date=10 Jun 2021|url=https://scroll.in/latest/997145/wants-to-spread-anarchy-gujarat-sahitya-akademi-criticises-poem-about-floating-corpses-in-ganga|access-date=8 Oct 2021|archive-date=8 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008204537/https://scroll.in/latest/997145/wants-to-spread-anarchy-gujarat-sahitya-akademi-criticises-poem-about-floating-corpses-in-ganga|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Susan 2021"/> The poem describes [[Narendra Modi]], the prime minister of India, as a "naked king" ruling a ''Ram Rajya'' where the sacred river Ganga serves as a hearse for corpses.<ref name="The Wire 2021"/> In writing of the city that "burns as he fiddles", the Prime Minister, without being directly named, is likened to the Roman Emperor [[Nero]]. Modi is addressed in the lines:

<poem>O King, this entire city has at last seen your real face
O King, in your Ram-Rajya, do you see the bodies flowing along the Ganges?<ref name="Doshi 2021">{{cite news|last=Doshi|first=Tishani|author-link=Tishani Doshi|title=Flogged, Imprisoned, Murdered: Today, Being a Poet Is a Dangerous Job|newspaper=The Guardian|date=5 July 2021|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jul/05/flogged-imprisoned-murdered-today-being-a-poet-is-a-dangerous-job|access-date=21 September 2021|archive-date=4 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804015704/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jul/05/flogged-imprisoned-murdered-today-being-a-poet-is-a-dangerous-job|url-status=live}}</ref></poem>

The people of India are called upon to:

<poem>Come out and shout and say it loud
The naked King is lame and weak.<ref name="Biswas 2021"/></poem>

==Reception==
The poem received both praises and criticism, and immediately became popular as comments on social media picked it up and multiplied it exponentially.<ref name="Susan 2021"/> It was translated into several languages including [[Assamese language|Assamese]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Hindi]], English, [[Malayalam]], [[Marathi language|Marathi]], [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] and [[Tamil language|Tamil]].<ref name="The Wire 2021"/><ref name="Tripathi 2021"/> Musical compositions for the Gujarati and Punjabi versions were released.<ref name="Tripathi 2021"/> [[Shalini Randeria]] and [[Ilija Trojanow]] published a German translation in ''[[Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung]]'' on 21 May 2021, along with their commentary on the poem.<ref name="The Wire June 2021">{{cite web|title=Gujarati Writers, Readers Condemn Sahitya Akademi's Vilification of Poem on Ganga Corpses|website=The Wire|date=18 June 2021|url=https://thewire.in/rights/gujarat-sahitya-akademi-parul-khakhar-poem-vilification|access-date=8 Oct 2021|archive-date=8 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008095219/https://thewire.in/rights/gujarat-sahitya-akademi-parul-khakhar-poem-vilification|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="FAZ 2021">{{cite news|title=Ein Gedicht erschüttert Indien: Im Ganges fließt nur der Tod|newspaper=Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung|date=21 May 2021|url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/debatten/im-ganges-der-tod-parul-khakkars-gedicht-erschuettert-indien-17349147.html|language=de|access-date=8 Oct 2021|archive-date=8 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008095216/https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/debatten/im-ganges-der-tod-parul-khakkars-gedicht-erschuettert-indien-17349147.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The Hindi translation was done by Ilyas Sheikh.<ref name="The Wire 2021"/>

Khakhar was acclaimed for writing "such a powerful and brave poem" but was also "bombarded with abusive messages".<ref name="Devkala 2021">{{cite news|last=Devkala|first=Mehul|title=Gujarati Poem Criticises Govt's Handling of Covid Resurgence|newspaper=Telegraph India|date=20 May 2021|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/gujarati-poem-criticises-govts-handling-of-covid-resurgence/cid/1816172|access-date=6 October 2021|archive-date=6 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006210953/https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/gujarati-poem-criticises-govts-handling-of-covid-resurgence/cid/1816172|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Salil Tripathi]] writing for ''[[The Guardian]]'' noted users of social media posted over 28,000 abusive comments reacting to her allusion to the responsibility of the Indian government.<ref name="Tripathi 2021"/><ref name="The Wire 2021"/>

[[Prakash N. Shah]] and Salil Tripathi compared "Shav Vahini Ganga" with [[Hans Christian Andersen]]'s tale ''[[The Emperor's New Clothes]]'', emphasizing its power of telling a visible yet unperceived truth concerning the rulers of the state.<ref>{{cite web|last=Shah|first=Prakash N.|author-link=Prakash N. Shah|title='શબવાહિની ગંગા'ની સાખે|date=28 May 2021 |url=https://opinionmagazine.co.uk/details/7240/shabavaahinee-ganganee-saakhe|language=gu|access-date=2021-09-29|archive-date=2021-06-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210628173845/https://opinionmagazine.co.uk/details/7240/shabavaahinee-ganganee-saakhe|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Tripathi 2021"/> According to [[Babu Suthar]], "Shav Vahini Ganga" should be viewed as a [[Resistance literature|protest poem]] in which the traditional, dominant Gujarati [[poetics]] of representation and transformation are put aside, and language is used as a weapon against the state.<ref>{{cite web|last=Suthar|first=Babu|date=28 June 2021 |author-link=Babu Suthar|script-title=gu:પ્રતિકારની કવિતા|trans-title=Poetry of Resistance|url=https://opinionmagazine.co.uk/details/7363/pratikaarnee-kavitaa|language=gu|access-date=2021-09-29|archive-date=2021-06-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210628172648/https://opinionmagazine.co.uk/details/7363/pratikaarnee-kavitaa|url-status=live}}</ref>

The popular Gujarati writer [[Kaajal Oza Vaidya]] published an article about the poem in ''[[Divya Bhaskar]]'' on 16 May 2021.<ref name="Divya Bhaskar 2021">{{cite news|last=Vaidya|first=Kaajal Oza|author-link=Kaajal Oza Vaidya|title=માય સ્પેસ: દુઃખ પારાવાર... મૂઈ આ સરકાર !|newspaper=[[Divya Bhaskar]]|date=16 May 2021|url=https://www.divyabhaskar.co.in/magazine/rasrang/news/dukh-parawar-mooi-this-government-128491509.html|language=gu|access-date=5 December 2021|archive-date=18 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518152537/https://www.divyabhaskar.co.in/magazine/rasrang/news/dukh-parawar-mooi-this-government-128491509.html|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Salil Tripathi 2021"/>

===Gujarat Sahitya Akademi's criticism and responses===

The following month, an editorial appeared in the June issue of ''[[Shabdasrishti]]'', a publication of [[Gujarat Sahitya Akademi]].<ref name="Ritu Sharma 2021">{{cite news|last=Sharma|first=Ritu|title=Poem on Bodies in Ganga: Gujarat Sahitya Akademi Sees 'Anarchy', 'Literary Naxals'|newspaper=The Indian Express|date=10 Jun 2021|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/poem-on-bodies-in-ganga-gujarat-sahitya-akademi-sees-anarchy-literary-naxals-7351761/|access-date=8 Oct 2021|archive-date=8 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008203935/https://indianexpress.com/article/india/poem-on-bodies-in-ganga-gujarat-sahitya-akademi-sees-anarchy-literary-naxals-7351761/|url-status=live}}</ref> Without explicitly mentioning "Shav Vahini Ganga", the editorial dismissed it as "pointless angst expressed in a state of agitation"<ref name="Doshi 2021"/> and called those who discussed or shared the poem "literary [[Naxals]]".<ref name="Ritu Sharma 2021"/><ref name="Sharma 2021"/> [[Vishnu Pandya]], the editor of ''Shabdasrishti'', wrote in ''[[The Indian Express]]'': "There is no essence of poetry in the poem and neither it is the proper way to pen down poetry. This could be merely venting out one's anger or frustration, and it is being misused by liberals, [[Protests against Narendra Modi|anti-Modi]], anti-[[Bharatiya Janata Party|BJP]] and anti-[[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] elements."<ref name="Ritu Sharma 2021"/>

After the publication of this editorial, which appeared to defend the Indian government, around 169 Gujarati writers issued a statement demanding its withdrawal.<ref name="Sharma 2021">{{cite web|last=Sharma|first=Ritu|title=Litterateurs Demand Withdrawal of Gujarat Sahitya Akademi Editorial|website=The Indian Express|date=18 Jun 2021|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/litterateurs-withdrawal-of-gujarat-sahitya-akademi-editorial-7363821/|access-date=29 Sep 2021|archive-date=29 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210929152533/https://indianexpress.com/article/india/litterateurs-withdrawal-of-gujarat-sahitya-akademi-editorial-7363821/|url-status=live}}</ref> Some of the signatories included [[Amrit Gangar]], [[Anil R. Joshi|Anil Joshi]], [[Babu Suthar]], [[Gulam Mohammed Sheikh]], [[Himanshi Shelat]], [[Jignesh Mevani]], [[Kamal Vora]], [[Mallika Sarabhai]], [[Panna Naik]], [[Praful Raval]], [[Prakash N. Shah]], [[Pravin Pandya]], [[Priti Sengupta]], [[Salil Tripathi]], [[Sanjay Chhel]], [[Sharifa Vijaliwala]], [[Suman Shah]], [[Yoseph Macwan]], [[Zakia Soman]].<ref name="Desai 2021">{{cite news|last=Desai|first=Nachiketa|title=Gujarati Writers, Poets and Artists Condemn State Sahitya Academy For Maligning Poet Parul Khakkar|newspaper=National Herald|date=18 Jun 2021|url=https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/india/gujarati-writers-poets-and-artists-condemn-state-sahitya-academy-for-maligning-poet-parul-khakkar|access-date=8 Oct 2021|archive-date=8 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008205823/https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/india/gujarati-writers-poets-and-artists-condemn-state-sahitya-academy-for-maligning-poet-parul-khakkar|url-status=live}}</ref> Shortly afterwards, Khakhar published a poem entitled "Taare Bolvanu Nahi" ("You Should Not Speak") in ''Nireekshak'', 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 ''Shabdasrishti'' editorial.<ref name="Sharma 2021"/>

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=25em}}

==External links==
* [https://layastaro.com/?p=18614 Gujarati text of the poem]
* [https://agitatejournal.org/shav-vahini-ganga-ganga-the-carrier-of-corpses-%E0%AA%B6%E0%AA%AC%E0%AA%B5%E0%AA%BE%E0%AA%B9%E0%AA%BF%E0%AA%A8%E0%AB%80-%E0%AA%97%E0%AA%82%E0%AA%97%E0%AA%BE-%E0%A4%B6%E0%A4%B5-%E0%A4%B5/ Translated versions of the poem]

[[Category:2021 poems]]
[[Category:Poems in Gujarati]]
[[Category:Indian poems]]
[[Category:Works about the COVID-19 pandemic]]
[[Category:Cultural responses to the COVID-19 pandemic]]
[[Category:Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in India]]

Shav Vahini Ganga - Revision history

NIULoyd091 at 16:24, 25 March 2026