#kavyotsav
MOTHERHOOD
I was a little more than
Five years old,
Had not started
Going to school, yet.
Everyday,
I listened to the radio,
Heard songs –
Most of them Hindi Film songs ….
And was very impressed
By Lata Mangeshkar ….
One day,
Curious,
I asked my father,
“Pappa, does Lata Mangeshkar’s daughter
Also sing so beautifully? ”
“Lata Mangeshkar
Does not have a daughter.”
“Why? ”
“She is not married.”
“So what? ” ….
I wondered !!
I had the impression that
At a certain age,
Every girl becomes a lady
And a mother,
Bearing and rearing children ….,
A phonomenon as natural
And as matter-of-fact as
Flowering of plants, trees ….
“You are a fool! ”,
My not-so-elder,
But wise brother quipped
And unknowingly spared
Pappa’s adult answerlessness.
Later on,
I grew up,
Accumulated age,
And I saw,
Birth-givers
Not becoming mothers
And Motherhood
Craving in childless arms ….
And I wonder,
Where did It get trapped?
Where? ………..?
Where is It struggling?
On its way from
Doll-house to home?
Vanita Thakkar
