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Thursday, September 28, 2017

Namelessness of the one with a thousand names


“Few tasks are more like the torture of Sisyphus than housework, with its endless repetition: the clean becomes soiled, the soiled is made clean, over and over, day after day.”

― Simone de Beauvoir



I wash everything
I scrub it clean
along with the vessels
the vegetables
my consciousness
of any sense of me

I peel the skin
delicately
potatoes can also
look like hearts
to mad women
like me

Time looks like
a fine stainless steel grater
I grate my ego
fine, finer
so that all
my questions die

your love sharp
like a shining knife
I chop, chop,chop
my self in to
smaller pieces
so that of my "I"
remains no sign

Now I knead
mix it, dissolve it
add more water
that will bind it fast
to make a stiff dough
of tradition
against which I punch
my knuckles
till they hurt,never bleed

the oil heats like
my simmering soul
In the wok of your
grand celebration

I deep fry
the remains of 
my hard work, pride
self-worth and name

The festive feast 
for your Devi
Venerate, celebrate her
who isn't nameless like me but  
who has a thousand names* !


* Durga- the Hindu deity is believed to have a thousand names




Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Why Complain?





There is an iron mold
hard, stiff and cold

they all have to fit in
goddess, bitch, 
wife or whore

each in their own frame
and why complain?

they have the pedestals
the whore-houses
homes and tombs

what good is empowerment
 without a man
work for him ,birth progeny
provide pleasure
take his name
why complain?

Feminism is only
for the mad single women
who waste their lives
asking questions
in vain
you the good women
must be seen not heard
you the "devi"
the maa and the behan**
why complain?



*mother, ** sister but here used together to indicate sexist abuses in Hindi

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Yes I have a Vagina ! #KanganaRanaut #AIB






Recently AIB launched a parody video featuring Kangana Ranaut is not only probably her personal stance about sexism and nepotism in Bollywood but to extend the metaphor is also a reflection of the conventional cliches that dictate most of Indian men-women relationships at large as well.

She outdoes her Aap ki Adalat interview here taking a satirical and musical dig at what is wrong with the Indian ideal male hood.
At the onset the heroine is asked- Who are you? , a question that haunts most women in a traditional setup where largely still even their last names are not a choice but denote them “belonging” to father/husband’s family. At best they only get recognized as “love interest” of the hero in films and as wife/girlfriend/spouse of a certain so and so.


The lady being a physicist/scientist or any other professional is of little interest and while her opinion is dismissed as just a “cute” whim the same opinion from a male is THE WORD, and widely accepted as intelligent speak.


Women must be seen not heard is still like the default brief in Indian patriarchal psyche whether it’s the hero, director( symbolically other men/women in authority) , just titillate and look good, no need to use your mind or voice. As one of her female co-star says in the video, “….don't say anything just smile and dance.”


The woman asserts- I have self-respect, yes like most “modern” women would and not just remained confined to “smoke a cigarette and abuse brand of modern womanhood”, and that becomes the point of conflict in most relationships.

In a satirical vein the lady touches lots of raw veins that still hurt a lot of women in real life too – social approval for older man/younger woman relationship (even if it’s almost pedophilia kind of an age difference) but older woman/younger man and she becomes the cradle snatcher. Older heroines pushed to the margin selling detergents/soaps just like women are after marriage/motherhood while men can still be Casanovas and male leads.


The lady also talks about cleavage being used to sell products, no carbs to have perfect bodies to be objectified because we have a vagina.


The glass ceiling in getting better opportunities, in getting better pay for same work, in men having entitlement to call the shots is not just a Bollywood thing but an everyday reality for most women. 


Their work pre-defined to reduce themselves to being showpieces and remaining lesser than and/or dependent on men , though symbolically putting the name first in the casting or “giving” them progressive roles in homes and outside seems to be the favor men are doing.

The mansplaining throughout is so real in everyday situations and relationships and the last nail is how when a woman speaks she is not even “allowed” to own her bad-ass card but labelled as playing the victim card.


More voice to every girl who doesn't mince her words !! 
Yes We have a Vagina !!

Friday, September 8, 2017

Warrior Women





The fragile-brave woman
who refuses
to kill
an unborn girl
and stands by 
her daughters
through every storm

the little girl
who insists
"education"
in the face of
a terror regime
and a gun to her head

the young woman
who speaks
periods, breasts
and abuse
without the shackle of 
honor, 
fear or shame

the survivor
who battles a 
crime
violence or a
fatal disease
but doesn't compromise
her mind,voice or name

the old woman
who lets go
of centuries of do's & don'ts 
and stands with the girls
against the men

warriors all
in words, thoughts
and essence !
All Warrior Women !





This post is for a Blogathon titled WARRIOR WOMEN here @ Women's Web

When a Greek pirate ship sails in to loot the wealth of the Cholas, it is brutally defeated by the navy and forced to pay a compensation. A payment that includes a twelve-year-old girl, Aremis. Check out this new historical novel Empire (
http://bit.ly/DeviEmpire) with a warrior woman, Aremis at the heart of the novel.

Sunday, September 3, 2017

The Author as a Sculptor



Your skillful male hands
knead the mud
to shape me
as you may
in a set mould
of humble clay

since centuries
the same cast,
a million women
repeat and relive
a future of past

broad forehead
to bring you 
lines of fortune

lotus-eyes to bring 
compassion and wrath, 
or when you say
doom- doom !

only love 
and endearment
her lips allowed 
to smile and sing

the tongue that drinks
your adversary's blood
and never utters
a single word

the perfect curves
to be the mother
in her endless womb
your dreams to nurture

the thighs strong
to bear you sons
fight your wars
defeat your demons

the embellishments, perfect all
to show your prosperity
and the burial in water
the final downfall

the ritual carving
of a mortal mother
every year
you dear man
her author
her sculptor !

Keywords

2019 answers anxiety apathy April Blogging challenge B-A-R barathon birthday blog Blogarhythm blogathon Book Review books BOY breasts brothers Buddha bullying cartoons chandigarh child childhood children cities colour compassion contest cosmos culture dad daughter de death death loneliness alone December delhi depression desire devi discrimination disorder diwali domestic violence dreams emily emotional abuse eyes facebook fairytale family fear feminism festival film fire first flash fiction fog freedom freeze frenemy friends GADGETS games gender gender ratio girls god grandfather grandmother grief HAIKU Hamlet happy heart hills hindi home hope husband independence day indiblogger internet jagjit singh kashmir kerouac kids lessons life life lessons light loneliness lonely longing loss love lover marriage me memories memories men menstruation mental health mind miss mom mom dad mother mother's day motherhood mythology nest new year nobody nostalgia pain pakistan panjab university papa paradoxes patriarchy periods poem poet poetry priyamvada questions random thoughts rape relationships religion remember rickshaw ritual Rumi Ruskin Bond sad sex Sexism sexual harassment sexual harrasment shimla short story silence social media soul Stream of consciousness sufi suicide summers taboo time toddlers tradition tragedy twitter valentine violence voice war winter woman women women's day Womensweb words. thoughts words.thoughts worry worship writer writing yatra yeats zen zen. बेटी माँ

COMPANIONS CALLED BOOKS

To Kill a Mockingbird
The Catcher in the Rye
Animal Farm
The Alchemist
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Romeo and Juliet
Frankenstein
The Odyssey
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Count of Monte Cristo
Eat, Pray, Love
Lolita
The Da Vinci Code
The Kite Runner
The Silence of the Lambs
The Diary of a Young Girl
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
The Notebook
Gone With the Wind
}

The Human Bean Cafe, Ontario

The Human Bean Cafe, Ontario
my work on display there !!!!!