Kaleidoscopic Durga
Hey! Let's keep fast,
Today is Durga Puja.
With immense pomp and splendour,
We welcome you Maa.
Alas! rustic Durga is uninvited.
On your advent we spend like crazy,
What a pity! Our worldly Durga is in dearth of money.
Oh Maa ! we clad you with the finest silk,
Innumerable Durga's clothes are teared, tattered,
Oh no ! Her body is in shame.
Maa we present you with the finest delicacy,
See - on the corner of the street our dusky Durga is gobbling the leftovers.
The beat of drums drives us crazy,
Some beast go with the intoxicating flow,
Help! earthen Durga's organs are mutilated, smashed, bruised, burnt with cigarette butts.
Ah ! a devastating sight.
In one hand we worship you with the lamp,
And the same lamp is used to blaze terrestrial Durga.
We welcome you Maa with your kids,
Bitter, our dusty Durga's kids are treated as shun.
We pray you with utmost reverence,
Alas! Alluvial Durga is disrespected.
We lift our head to pray you,
But suppress earthy Durga when they try to rise.
Spiritual verses make the aura divine,
Nasty words defame material Durga's life.
The 'pandal' lights glimmer the dark nights,
Pathetic, somewhere Geotic Durga's life is in plight.
The hand which pray you,
Same hands kill countless Durgas.
My dear folks,
Our Maa is in tears,
Let us all hymn the song of humanity,
And shield our Earthy Durga.
Barricade Colourism
The long awaiting auspicious Kartik Amavasya prevail,
And all geared up for Kali puja.
With immense pomp and pride,
You are embraced in our nest, Maa.
Shopping for colourful fairy lights, firecrackers ,
Ah! It's so much fun.
Maa, you are the quintessential embodiment of Adi Shakti.
Streams of devotees mediate you
whole night,
To seek your supreme blessings of strength, power and courage.
Your disciple adore your dark skin,
Your voluptuous large eyes, blood red tongue and glossy dark skin,
Makes the aura pure divine.
I am also a dark native woman, Maa.
Born with colour of demeaning,
Always receives heaps of futile suggestions,
To lighten my coffee-tinted tone.
Since from ages colourism is deeply rooted,
Your devotees ridicule my sun kissed skin.
Uncivilized words from civilized folks do sting me.
Sometimes it's difficult to combat derogatory remarks.
How strange! the lips which praises your complexion,
Same lips spit pointed remarks on my look
The hands which prays you,
Same fingers point on my dusky hue.
Our society celebrates fair skin hugely.
It is associated with the divine.
I have warmly hugged my glowy caramel colour .
My dark skin is not a trademark of shame.
My skin colour doesn't define me.
Judge me by my brain not by my melanin.
Scan at my content.
See how fruitful I am.
We all are beautiful in our own way.
Maa, your devotees radiate their houses with dazzling lights,
Alas! They fail to illuminate their prehistoric mind.
Remember brown is the colour of earth,
Seeds sprout and flowers bloom.
(Deepika Singh from Margherita Assam India, qualification- M.A, B.Ed, teacher by profession. Her writings reflect her personal observations of day-to-day life. She believes that the right words can change our society. Some of her poems got featured in Sipay Journal, The Poet Magazine, Web Poesia, Womensweb, Journal of Macedonia Scientific society,Poetryzine Magazine, Archer magazine etc. Her works also got translated into Chinese, Macedonia, Spanish, Serbian language. She has also received honour from Yan'an government China and Gujarat Sahitya Academy, India.)
