Monday, September 5, 2022

The womb

 As the first grains of rice

cooked in the free range cow's milk, 

aromatic with the saffron from Pampore

were put in the baby's tender mouth,

Everyone joined in to congratulate

the beaming parents. 

The men patted the broad shoulders

of the exultant father, 

who gave away sweets to everyone.

And, the women hugged the mother, 

as she sat with little Ganesha, 

a veritable Parvati, 

resplendent in a coral colored saree 

on which golden peacocks danced 

in their full Kanjeevaram glory. 

The euphoric grandmother sat amidst 

the older ladies with hoary and dyed heads 

singing folk ditties to bless 

the little piece of their hearts. 

The mausis and Buas vied to outperform each 

other in Bollywood and classical dance. 

The guests having their bellies filled

with savoury and sweet delicacies

lazed and talked about

how beautiful the mother looked 

and how healthy the baby.

They complimented each other's sartorial sense 

and whispered about many people's lack of it.

They talked about the mouth melting moong dal halwa

but hinted at the absence of gulab jamun, a favorite of many. 

But, no one paid any attention 

to the thin woman with red eyes and stoic face 

who wore cheap imitation jewelry, a wilted gajra 

 sat in a corner trying to cover her leaky blouse 

with the anchal of her polyester saree.


- Neha Bansal


(Published in "Mosaic of poetic musings : contemporary women poets from India" edited by Seema Jain and published by Authors press)






2 comments:

  1. What a presentation, the womb says it all with the comparison of Kanjeevaram saree and the polyster aanchal. Despite all the wealth and glory, Kanjeevaram is still saree and polyster becomes aanchal. Kudos to the poet who let the reader do their part and get evolved as a reader, amidst the signals and nudges in the poem. In the first read you can see it as simple description of a ceremony, but when you read and reread, it drifts you to the highs and lows of life, where neither the biological mother is wrong nor the ceremonial one. They are perhaps doing their bit to nurture a life.
    Lots of love and best wishes. Keep inspiring

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