Ranjana’s poem is about working women, metaphorically represented by Kojagiri Lakshmi, exclusively for Different Truths.
The night glows
with the silver moon:
Hypnotic, surreal, beyond beautiful,
but it becomes a mixed bag
for the millennial woman.
She is working on her laptop
to complete office assignments--
Work ... stress...competition...
The moon lingers
displaying its radiance
in this mythological night.
Kojagiri means, who is awake?
Lakshmi-- the goddess of
wealth and fortune --
Descends on the Earth
and seeks to bless all those
who have stayed awake.
Is the woman asleep or awake?
The argent beams
of the fabled moon flood her space;
images continue to appear on the laptop:
A criss-cross of conflicting tides
amid an ever- changing
kaleidoscope of impressions!
She goes to the kitchen and
prepares kheer* like her mother
to keep it on the terrace
bathed in moonlight.
The next day she picks up the vessel
late in the morning and puts a spoonful
of the sweet stuff in her mouth:
The taste is nothing special,
she wonders whether the moon
might have dropped some nectar!
She rushes towards her office
with ambivalent feelings
about the moon that loses
its lustre during the day
and floats in the blue ocean
like a lifeless white shell!
Notes:
Kojagiri— A religious festival on the full moon day (Sharad Purnima). Kheer is
prepared during the night and kept under the moonlight in an open roofed space. It is believed
that on this night moon rays carry amrita (elixir of immortality) which is collected in the
kheer.
Kheer–Sweet rice pudding.
Picture design Anumita Roy
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