That day he understood.
the laundry to be put out
and the lunch boxes to be made, before the
bus arrived to take the kids, bit before
mid-day…and other chores,
without any respite!
the maid played truant
as if destiny wanted it that way only.
she, the wife, ill
waking up
drifting back
pale-faced.
he, running around
the suburban Mumbai apartment
answering door bells, cold calls, couriers
and storing filtered water in bottles
due to daily shortage
then straightening the rooms
piling the newspapers into a bundle
managing the washing machine
and the office e-mails, simultaneously
or, almost
—he, working from home, that hot day,
muttering sotto voce, all the obscenities—
his feet running off a tired body
about to tilt like the Tower of Pisa
or, whatever…
the manager- guy understood perfectly
what does it mean to be a superwoman
with multiple hands
sweat dripping
a galley slave
but never-ever grunting!
those sexy ads
of working women
becoming a grim reality.
the being that was a 24X7 machine
invisible!
the machine then
morphing into a smiling wife
a great care-giver
to an ungrateful/uncaring
fat Indian middle-class family!
—Sunil Sharma
A scintillating work from an author whose wit and wisdom traverses the acerbic and the mordant.
Thanks Louis—for these helpful tutorials in Practical Criticism.
Awesome and realistic poem ! Vivid imagery !
Thanks for stopping by on not so snowing evening. Appreciated, the glance at the work.
Uncanny gift for apt images and admirable narrative skill. Superb !
Thanks Vijay. Coming from a gifted poet, it motivates the present writer to push on.
Brilliant..!!
‘Intricacies of Life’ portrayed in such an earnest and profound way.
Thanks. evaluation by a better peer, always encouraging.
This is a great piece Sunil! It sounds like ‘someone’ has discovered what gender/parental equality is about in a working-class family 🙂
Familiar and mundane routine of a woman well-noticed n well-addressed by a well-known poet,Sunil Sharma!