Seema Taneja
you unload the day’s burden
and stash it in the crevices of your mind
it’s been humongous, tiring, draining
for years you’ve been carrying it with fortitude
*
you remove the heavy red bindi
and stick it on the washroom mirror
it waits till sunrise when you reapply it
to brighten up your wan, listless face
*
tired unslept eyes, dull unkempt hair
frame the reflection in the tall mirror
it’s gilded, just like your glorified existence,
but ignored are the scratches on its soul
*
can you hear me? – it screams – unbar the windows
let the sun stream in, let the fresh air rejuvenate me
you wash your tear laden face, square your shoulders
and set out to fight the battles, yours and others
*
Hang in, tarry a little, O woman,
the world wouldn’t fall apart, my lady
if you don’t offer everyone your frail shoulders
to hang their expectations, to squeeze out their happiness.
Can you hear me? Relax, the red bindi can wait for a day.
Very powerful… Something that we all do.. Put our bindis on the mirror.. A bindi is something is something that adds so much to a, woman’s beauty and yet it can wear a woman down by the way it typifies a woman. Beautiful and powerful lines.
Thank you so much. That’s precisely what I wished to portray.
I can’t tell how much I loved this. You’ve so beautifully penned the over-said fact and truth. I feel like this reading this over and over, as if I’m realising the truth just now.
#rulfy
Thank you so much, Nitika.
Most women tend to take on the weight of the world on their shoulders but when they need others, there’s none to care for them.
This is powerful poetry. The story of every woman. So many people hang their expectations on those slender shoulders and She how effortlessly tries to satisfy every desire, everyone’s wish. And then somewhere her mere dreams are stocked inside that closet in her room.
Lovely, very touching ma’am.💚💚
Thank you, Sonali. Yes, sadly it’s the story of every woman.
This is such a powerful poem with such a profound message. Love how it tells the woman with the red bindi to not make the bindi the core of her existence and that it’s okay to address her responsibilities at her own pace and not at the cost of her mental and physical well being.
I could read it again and again, such is its beauty .
Thank you, Moonmoon. Every woman must learn to shrug off some of the responsibilities and reassign them. At our own pace…that’s the key to mental peace.
Seema Taneja. This is why I tag you. To read you. Selfish of me, isn’t it?
This is such powerful poetry. The ‘bindi’ symbolizes her duties toward life, for me. She takes it off but her work is never done. No one ever thinks of her. Nor she herself has time for her ownself. In the morning once more she dons that Bindi, supposedly a happy symbol but all at once it symbolizes her subordinance.
Ah, you’re so kind and sweet Natasha. Thank you! You put it so well…subordinance and subjugation. The bindi ties her down to her duties and responsibilities. Even when she removes it for the night the burden stays in her mind.
Real plight of a woman. I bit of colour to face a new day.
Thank you so much, ma’am!
#rulfy💚
Rulfying soon. 🙂
Such a powerful poem! Plight of every woman!😞💚💚
It really is. Thank you so much for reading and appreciating.
So powerful and relevant too.. Bindi and women.. Loved the way you portrayed 💚💚💚
Thank you so much, Kirti. 🙂
how lovely .. this reminded me of my mom and her love for bindi. her bindi were present on every mirror in the house.. and how she loved donning one.. A lovely poem Seema..
Yes, most moms do this.
Thank you. So glad this poem touched you.
Just beautiful! It resonates so deeply within us.
Thank you, Sai. Am glad my words resonated with you.
The concept of red bindi and the huge responsibilities of life performed by most women everyday is wonderfully juxtaposed.
Thank you!