Legendary Uttarakhandi singer Narendra Singh Negi’s songs are as holistic in their vision as they are rich in the rustic idioms of the Gadhwal Himalayas, says Satish Purohit.

A father’s letter

Come soon my son,
And make it a long leave
The final hour is upon us,
Tehri is going underwater
for the big dam.
Son, let your eyes roam free,
Over the mountain paths, the bylanes
that saw you outgrow childhood
The house you crawled on all fours,
The cobbled village square,
The roads that witnessed
your comings and goings
Tarry not, little piece of my heart
Before it is all over for the land
you call mother

- Narendra Singh Negi on the pain of villagers whose lands went underwater to make way for the massive Tehri dam.

Translation from Gadhwali by Satish Purohit