Day 19 - Enuf is Not Enough

Someone from outside

the four-block radius I called home
knew this word.
and had used it,
not just at any place in the book
but in the title.
and not just in any book,
but a brilliant work of theatre,
which fascinates one
beyond imagination.
But as a teenager,
I remember,
it was the title,
that affected me
the most.

You see, just by bringing a word
from my four-block radius home
to the title of a book,
what Ntozake Shange does is,
she takes away the need for
any politcal correctness,
or tainting of my truth,
or hiding what needs to be said.
This one word from her,
prepares the reader
for the substance
of the prose.

For Colored Girls
Who Have Considered Suicide/
When The Rainbow Is Enuf.

Enuf. In print.
Enuf, not enough.
You see, enuf and enough
are very different words.
They have the same meaning,
can be used in the same context,
but each has very different significance
to those who employ them.

Enuf sits comfortably
in the subtitle of this book
allowing the work
to call out to those
for and about whom
it is written.

Now you see why
Seeing the word enuf in print,
on the cover of a book,
meant the world to me?

- Based on the preface of For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood.

Image Source: Books.google.co.in 

 #Day19 #The100DayProject #100DaysOfProseToPoetry#Race For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood. For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf

Day 18 - King And The Naked Man

Having conquered
the Persian empire,
the young Macedonian
reaches the banks
of the river Indus.

There he finds,
A naked man
- the gymnosophist,
sitting on a rock
staring into space.

"What are you doing,"
he asks, intrigued.

"Experiencing nothingness.
What about you?"

Bursting with pride,
the king announces,
"conquering the world!"

and both laugh,
"Oh! The fool!"

- Based on a excerpt from Devdutt Patanaik's Business Sutra.

Image Source: https://musingsonlyf.wordpress.com/category/emotions/

#Day18 #The100DayProject #100DaysOfProseToPoetry #Alexander #Nothingness Devdutt Pattanaik #EastAndWest

Day 17 - My Son is Gay

My name is Leila,

Leila Seth. 

I am 83 years old. 

I have been in a long 

and happy marriage 

of more than sixty years 

with my husband Premo, 

and am the mother 

of three children. 

The eldest, Vikram, 

is a writer. 

The second, Shantum, 

is a Buddhist teacher. 

The third, Aradhana , 

is an artist and film-maker. 

I love them all. 

My husband and I 

have brought them up

 with the values 

we were brought up with 

- honesty, courage 

and sympathy for others. 

We know 

they are hardworking 

and affectionate people, 

who are trying to do 

some good in the world.

But our eldest, Vikram, 

is now a criminal , 

an unapprehended felon. 

This is because , 

like many millions 

of other Indians, 

he is gay; 

and last month, 

two Supreme Court judges 

overturned the judgment 

of two Delhi high court judges

that, four years ago,

decriminalized 

homosexuality . 

Now, once again, 

if Vikram falls in love 

with another man, 

he will be committing 

a crime punishable 

by imprisonment for life 

if he expresses 

his love physically. 

Dear Supreme Court,

Your judgement mean

that he would have to be 

a celibate 

for the rest of his life 

- or else leave the country 

where he was born, 

to which he belongs, 

and which he loves 

more than any other?

I myself have been a judge 

for more than fourteen years 

And I have great respect 

for legal proprieties 

in general, and would not 

normally comment 

on a judgment, 

but I am making 

an exception in this case.

I read the judgment 

of the Delhi High Court 

when it came out 

four years ago. 

It was a model of learning, 

humanity and application 

of Indian Constitutional principles.

It was well crafted, 

and its reasoning 

clearly set out. 

It decided that Section 377 

of the Indian Penal Code 

infringed Article 14 

of the very Constitution, 

which deals with 

the fundamental right 

to equality of it's citizens. 

It infringed Article 15, 

which deals with 

the fundamental right 

to non-discrimination. 

And it infringed Article 21, 

which covers 

the fundamental right 

to life and liberty, 

including privacy and dignity. 

The judgment 

of the High Court 

'read down' Section 377 

in order to decriminalize 

private, adult, and 

consensual sexual acts.

The government 

found no fault 

with the judgment 

and did not appeal. 

However, a number of people 

who had no real standing 

in the matter did challenge it. 

Two judges of the Supreme Court 

heard the appeal in early 2012. 

Then, 21 months later, 

and on the very morning 

of the retirement of one of them, 

the judgment was finally pronounced. 

The Delhi High Court judgment 

was set aside, 

Section 377 

was reinstated in full, 

and even private, adult, 

consensual sexual acts 

other than the one 

considered 'natural' 

were criminalized again.

As the mother 

of my elder son, 

I was extremely upset. 

But as a lawyer 

and a former judge, 

I decided to reserve 

my views till I had read 

the judgment. 

When I read it, 

it would be true 

to say that I found 

difficult to follow its logic.

A host of academics 

and lawyers have critiqued 

the judgment in great detail, 

including the non-addressal 

of the Article 15 argument, 

and have found it 

wanting in many respects. 

I do not intend to 

repeat those criticisms. 

However, I should point out 

that both learning and science 

get rather short shrift. 

Instead of welcoming 

cogent arguments 

from jurisprudence 

outside India, 

which is accepted practice 

in cases of fundamental rights, 

the judgment specifically 

dismisses them as being 

irrelevant. Really?

Further, rather than following 

medical, biological and 

psychological evidence, 

which show that homosexuality 

is a completely natural condition, 

part of a range not only 

of human sexuality 

but of the sexuality 

of almost every animal species, 

the judgment continues 

to talk in terms of 'unnatural' acts, 

even as it says 

that it would be difficult 

to list them!

But what has pained me 

and is more harmful 

is the spirit of the judgment. 

The interpretation of law 

is untempered by any sympathy 

for the suffering of others.

The voluminous accounts 

of rape, torture, extortion 

and harassment 

suffered by gay 

and transgender people 

as a result of this law 

do not appear 

to have moved the court. 

Nor does the court appear 

concerned about the parents 

of such people, 

who stated before the court 

that the law induced 

in their children 

deep fear, profound self-doubt 

and the inability 

to peacefully enjoy family life. 

I know this to be true 

from personal experience. 

The judgment fails 

to appreciate 

the stigma 

that is attached 

to persons 

and families 

because of this 

criminalization.

And reason

for being a criminal,

is that my son loves?

- Based on Leila Seth's article, A mother and a judge speaks out. She died a week ago and has left behind a legacy of solid allyship and motherly care for Indian Judicial System and society to reconsider it's moral standing.

Image Source: http://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/you-can-talk-good-ideas-out-of-existence/229026

#Day17 #The100DayProject #100DaysOfProseToPoetry #LGBT #Gay#LeilaSeth #HumanRights #Article377 

Day 15: Let go, Chetan.

When she takes her time to drink 

a barely warm cup of tea, let her. 

She's given her time 

to cook your meal 

and serve it to you 

before she sat to drink her tea.

And what about

get up and cook 'your' meal,

and serve yourself,

because it's 'your' meal?

Or if that's too difficult for you,

my writer boy?

"When she takes time to select 

a dish from the menu, let her. 

Every day, for every meal 

she has prepared 

she has given her time 

to think about what to make, 

how much, and for whom.

And what tells you 

that you have the right 

to not let her take her time 

to decide what she wants 

to eat, in the first place?

That she deserves that time

only because she gives up her time

to think about your food?

And not because she just wants 

to think about what she wants to eat?

You recognise how absurd that sounds?

"When she takes time to dress up 

to go out with you, let her. 

She has given her time to make sure 

that your ironed clothes are in their place 

and knows better than you, 

where your socks are. 

She has dressed up 

her child thoughtfully, 

to look like the child who is

most smartly dressed up around.

What about ironing your own cloths,

knowing where you keep your socks,

helping out in dressing up 

not just "her" child but your too?

"When she takes time 

to watch TV mindlessly, let her. 

She is only half concentrating 

and has a clock ticking in her head. 

As soon as it's nearing dinner time, 

you'll see her disappear to get things ready.

You are just going to see her 

disappear to get things ready?

What about moving your ass 

and help in getting things ready?

"When she takes time 

to serve you breakfast, let her. 

She has kept aside 

the burnt toast for herself 

and is taking the time 

to serve her family 

the nicest ones she could manage.

Serve you breakfast?

Like who you are? 

some lord to be served?

What about making your own?

And once in a while 

sharing that burnt toast, 

since you know there's one 

that she is keeping aside?

"When she takes time 

after her tea to just sit by the window 

and stare into nothingness, let her. 

It's her life, she's given you 

countless hours of her life..

Let her take a few minutes for herself.

She's rushing through her life, 

giving chunks of her time 

whenever needed, wherever needed. 

Don't rush her more 

than she rushes herself. 

Don't push her harder 

than she pushes herself.

*Let her take her time*

Dear Chetan,

You know what you should let her do?

First, let her smack 

the paternalistic, patronising, 

and patriarchal man out of you.

So that next time you care to 'let her' 

do things out of your charity, 

you know what's your real place is!

And then, let her shake

the fake feminist out of you,

who first thought, then wrote

and published such an unabashedly 

entitled misogynistic piece. 

And then, If you really care,

let go of your power, 

to let others do

or no do things.

Let go of your arrogance,

that you are the one 

to let her be or not be 

the way she may want to be.

Let go of your misconceptions

that she is there to serve you

feed you, clean you, dress you,

in short, baby-sit you.

Let go of your laziness - 

or is it your in capability?

to not do your own work,

in that house of yours and hers,

and within your mind and heart!

Finally let go of the notion 

that you can... let her. 

- This is written in response to Let Her Take Her Time, a post by Chetan Bhagat, a banker-turned-writer from India. The black font is the original piece. The blue font texts are some of the comments on the post interspersed with my own opinion. 

#Day15 #The100DayProject #100DaysOfProseToPoetry #Gender Chetan Bhagat #LetHer