The acid attack

Hers was not the “face that launched

A thousand ships” but certainly could singe

envious hearts of the dusky damsels,

though prettier, eclipsed against her

“Fair and lovely” charm in a country crazed

by the porcelain pale skin and light eyes.

A darling of all neighbourhood aunties

And secretly of uncles as well,

 She walked with a bounce

of youth and smug confidence.

She walked on a rose-petalled path,

discouraging lovelorn offers

With the ice perfected over precocious years,

Happily ignorant of the bitterness

Of unrequited love and the

Smouldering murderous rage

Being carried in a vial every day.

- Neha Bansal

Arranged Marriage: the old fashioned way

He went there with his five aunts

and three brothers-in-law.

The banarasi-clad aunts spoke a lot,

the co-brothers a little

and the groom not at all.

He sat almost broodingly,

the branch manager of a sarkari bank,

with your average Indian moustaches.

Kachoris  with tangy tamarind chutney

from back-street Natthu halwai served,

whose laurels  along  with bhua’s 

cross-stitched table cloth 

shamelessly ascribed to the bride.

The aunts nodded approval when she

brought forth the tea tray,

with bowed head and bashful eyes,

 tutored by her omniscient mausi.

Gulping down the elaichi tea

and eyeing her surreptitiously,

the groom quickly noticed her

besan-cured complexion;

her long snaky braid, pliant

 yet promisingly passionate.

No questions were ever asked

about bride’s aspirations.

Topic of dowry hushed up but

Traditions were to be respected.

Leave taking now, the groom afforded

a lingering glance on his bride-to-be,

definitely not lost on chuckling aunts

and the beaming parents of the bride.

Honour Killing

The sun bled red at the horror

and the footfalls of human night

when he hacked his only daughter

into nineteen pieces, a gift

for each spring she enjoyed on

the courtyard swing enrapturing

the family with her glee and picking up

yellow and pink wildflowers to weave

them in to her ecstatic pigtails...H
-Neha Bansal