JANAKI

The Woman in Red

Red chiffon

Vermilion on forehead

Coral round the neck

Adorned are the Ammas of Andhra

Bhavani becomes them!

PENANCE

4 a.m. Durga Temple

Janaki keeps her date

With Maa Devi Durga Bhavani

Darshan done, sindoor and mala donned

‘Bhavani’ now returns home

To the call of family deity

for Puja and Prasadam…

Uncombed hair, empty stomach,

She walks for an hour

from Yarada village to Dolphin Hill

Bare feet - in penance

To meet call of duty…

8 to 5 ‘domestic’ routine

Washing, cleaning, cooking, ironing

On 2 ½ cups of milky tea

In descending darkness and black-out

Also an outcome of striking ‘power’

Fear of snakes banished 

She hurries home for evening prayers

To her two daughters

And an alcoholic husband

Fresh naivedyam to prepare… yet again

Until Vijayadashmi

In the innocent hope of appeasing the Demon!

‘Modern’ Amma

A minister once

In his wisdom… or lack of it

Called women ‘names’

Parkati aurat, he said –

For those with short-crop,

And, by corollary, thence

for their ‘modern’ outlook

He, perhaps, never ventured

Down under… South

Or he would have seen

The Ammas of Andhra

Head tonsured off its tresses

Sporting skull-crop of grey

Or, a bob and a blunt

Nose-studs and saree in place

The mane left behind

At Tirupati…

At the feet of Lord Venkateshwara

Fashion sense or religious stance

It is, finally, all in the glance

Note: I have used the description Amma in many places… it may seem a derogatory connotation to some (ironically so, given our penchant for poking fun at “Madrasis”), but I use the word, in its true sense, as a genuine term of endearment and respect.