DOHAVALI: Popular Couplets of Kabir and Others

Kabir and Rahim occupy an important position among those who have shaped the popular culture in India. The fact that many of Kabir’s compositions form part of the Adi Granth, the Sacred Book of the Sikhs, is evidence to the extent of his appeal. Doha, meaning a two-lined rimed couplet, was a favourite format of Kabir and other poets. Their couplets have acquired the status of proverbs, quoted in the Hindi-belt a hundred times every day in conversations at home and in the street. Fifty-one such popular couplets, published earlier in 1986, are presented in this diglot edition, where the attempt is not just to translate but to trans-create the doha in English.   “The Dohavali versions are excellent!”-      P. Lal, Poet, Translator and Editor   “I have not come across any sincere transcreations (of Kabir’s dohas) than yours. I go by the ear. And your renderings do bring over the dhvani of the originals.” -      Mulk Raj Anand, Novelist