Chunri
1
She is only a kid,
Should we ask her?
No, we didn't on her wedding
She was given to a royal house
Married with such a pomp
Old and young, friends and neighbors
So many people came
She cried while going to in-law's house
All of us wept too,
But, really was it dislike
It was only habitual affection
2
That day
When we were giving her a bath
She said she was afraid
It was only the fear of unknown, we assured
She insisted that she would sleep with mother or sister
We forced sense into her mind
Afraid, she refused to go into
That dim-lit room
With the fumes of incense and perfume of camphor
She did not budge from the door
We pushed her in and bolted it
Do we allow her out?
Even if she shouted or knocked at the door
We spent whole night there with jokes and laughter
But, is it using force, tell me?
3
We told the same thing that day
When she was crying at his dead body
Once again we made her a bride
She went on to the sandal pyre
That smelled burning ghee
With a jar in her hands
As she went into the nuptial room
With a milk tumbler in her hands
Keeping her husband's head on her lap
We don't know whether she cried or laughed
But that was drowned in our
`Sati Mata ki jai' slogans
Intoxicated with the scenes that
We imagined outside the bedroom
On that nuptial night
We lost ourselves amidst the armed guard
Swear on that smiling appearance
And tell me, please
Was it a murder?
4
It is true that
He dragged her on to his pyre
As he would her on to his bed
With the same authority
She performed sati as freely
As she lived
***
October 12, 1987
Translated by N Venugopal