WIFEY IN HER LATE FIFTIES
toTARANGINI
"Be at home always;
loneliness is unbearable.
Be at my beck and call always;
I can 't do all the household work alone.
Be near me but not very near,
Maintain safe distance—always.
Don’t enter my kitchen
0r touch what is cooking.
Don’t mess up with anything,
that makes me mad.
keep everything tidy—
the way I want them to be;
Don’t enter my prayer room,
and don’t touch my deities.
Don’t enter my bed and
sleep by my side;
If at all you do so
lie still like a statue
Don’t try to disrobe me and disturb my sleep.
Don’t tease me—I am not your sister-in-law.
Don’t tease my sisters—they are now mothers.
You are a decade older than me,
don’t play the young.
Don’t ——-
Don’t——-
Don’t——-
Don’t die before I die
to save me from the taboos of widowhood:
No non-veg food, no colored sarees, no ornaments,
and not wanted at auspicious ceremonies.
(2014)
for many Hindu widows eating non-vegetarian food,wearing colored clothes and taking part
in auspicious ceremonies is a taboo.
