FIFTY YEARS OF EUPHORBIAS

20 january 2019

Get me that old house of spring.
Anyone who is as rich as my memories can get that.
Fifty years!
I longed for that.
That place of happy giggles and peaceful hibernations.
Sitting in this dilapidated house of winter,
my thoughts get into that fifty year old vintage bus.
Caught in the web of wedding pain,
I traveled to this unknown land.
But I was still dreaming in that house of spring, unable to wake up.
Fifty years ago,the fallen gulmohars whispered while I swung.
The walls of the house treasured my unheard stories.
Every time I entered it,
I used to smell happiness and peace.
And then,time flew away to nowhere.
Fifty years later,my septuagenarian eyes visualise it.
I see the web of spiders hanging in silence,
the aged ghosts wandering and whizzing,unable to catch hold of a pillar.
It's threshold still seems to beckon me longing for a home.
Children of mine loved and looked after then,
live in their happiness and business now.
Why at this age? That house is a mess!they tell me.
They do not know the scarlet gulmohars of that messy house
which gave way to the crimson summer flowers of Euphorbias,
messing up my only life with deadly thorns.
The scars of my delicacy and servitude,
each of fifty years of age,ooze out memories at my pain.
Now that I see it closer and clearer,
I hear the sound of excavation.
I feel my spirits already up from the six feet land
to occupy the highest branch of that gulmohar tree!

A.C

Comments

Shuli’s Love

Shuli washed her hair twice that day. One for her love to cleanse all impurities of reality and one for herself. She took a nap twice that day. One for love that took her melatonin, And another to forget. Shuli laughed twice that day. One on behalf of her tainted Love, And another on her botched brain cells. She cried a quarter that day. Half a quarter filled with anger, and the other half with shame. She danced twice that day, One for lost time on love, And another for her love for dance. Shuli wrote twice that day, One for her heart and Other for her brain. She gave two hugs that day, One for her wet pillow And another for herself. Shuli played hostess twice that day, One for her pain and the last for her sanity.

The Women of Rifle Club

Over the decades, Malayalam cinema has often used female characters to uphold male protagonists, reinforcing the power dynamics in favor of men. This pattern, normalized and celebrated as long as the hero “wins” the situation, has shaped narratives for years. However, in recent times, audiences have begun to unlearn this ingrained bias, recognizing it as something that needs to be critiqued rather than celebrated. Aashiq Abu’s Rifle Club breaks away from this mold, igniting the fiery tension of a wild war in the Western Ghats. What sets this film apart is its portrayal of women— each female character is uniquely strong and layered, claiming her identity with confidence. From being mocked for being “just a woman” to owning the scene, characterisations of women in Malayalam cinema are beginning to emerge as unstoppable forces. Society often perpetuates the stereotype that women, being emotional, are inherently weaker or less stable in grave situations. Instead, the movie shows that ...

Laapataa Ladies aka Ladies Lost in Patriarchy

Kiran Rao’s “Laapataa Ladies” is a social satire that offers entertainment as well as empowerment. The movie humorously portrays the grave realities of a patriarchal society with the help of a simple story and background. As the name and the trailer suggested, it revolves around two newly married brides who get lost on the way to their in-laws’ home. While Jaya, whom Deepak accidentally brings home instead of his wife Phool, seizes this opportunity to follow her dream, Phool undergoes profound personal growth during the time. This period shows multiple women discovering themselves. Some learn to do things that they love for themselves while others learn to explore and embrace their talents. Even though Jaya and Phool are two contradictory characters, they are both equally victims of patriarchal conditioning. While Jaya is ready to break and act against all the norms of society from the very beginning by uttering the name of her husband to everyone’s disbelief, Phool learns to do t...

THE FORGOTTEN STORIES

Search This Blog