Poem ‘FAUCET’
A woman
may buy a tool-kit and know how to use it
may change the washer, adjust the stopcock
swap the ball bearings
fix the leaky spigot with a spanner.
A woman may suggest to Nature
that for the next millennia
men become pregnant
a facetious fractious suggestion;
the woman knows her pleas
are just venting, as ineffectual
as hammering water.
A woman may not drive in Saudi Arabia
may not bike unless in a ladies’ only park
may not be seen in public without a male protector.
A woman must also be fertile
dribbling out male heirs;
she may spout songs in private
and dance in full Dior, smeared with make up
for her mirror and other ladies to see.
A village panchayat in Punjab declares
that mobile phones given to girls
leads them to pre-marital sex;
boys can have cell phones and call for help
when they’re in trouble, but females,
young things, must take it on the chin,
remaining on the drip-drip of advancement.
A woman there thinks: what if instead of aborting
the female foetuses, the nozzle was turned off
as if by a spell, a sorcery; no babies were born
to the women of this village, then the new elders
all men, would die out without replacement
and further afield too the taps would be fixed just so
by the women who knew how.
(After ‘Woman’ by Arun Kolatkar)
First published in The Feminist Times in November 2013
www.feministtimes.com/poetry-faucet-by-kavita-jindal
The Mechanics’ Institute Review: Issue 10
My Short Story ‘When You Go, You Leave A Farce’ is in
The Mechanics’ Institute Review: Issue 10
This is the 10th anniversary edition of the anthology, which is published annually by Birkbeck and is packed each year with short stories that cover a range of topics, all given a stylish slant by the quality of the writing.
HUBBUB
I”ll be reading an extract from my short story ‘When You Go, You Leave A Farce’ at Hubbub on 14 October, 2013.
The event runs from 7:30-9.30 pm and is held at The Harrison, 28 Harrison Street, Kings Cross, London WC1H 8JF.
The Dance Of The Peacock
An anthology of Indian Poets edited by Dr Vivekanand Jha and published in Canada by Hidden Brook Press.
This 500 page anthology is a labour of love on the part of the editor who has brought together the work of 151 poets ranging in age from 15 to 92 years. Dip into it to be surprised.
#CmonBaby LightMyPyre
My latest blog for Birkbeck’s Writers’ Hub is on funeral-comedy and about what inspired me to write my short story ‘When you go, you leave a farce’. The story will be published September 2013 in the Mechanics’ Institute Review in its special tenth anniversary edition.
Muse India
Poetising Indian Heritage – A feature by Usha Kishore
It includes three poems of mine; one of which was only available in print before: ‘It Was In May. The Sky Poured.’