Sarla aunty is
an angel I am deeply fond of
Though Mom and Dad tell me she
is our maid.
She does all the random chores,
from cooking to cleaning to washing
Besides taking care of me and my
little sister and even changing her soiled nappies
As mom and dad come late from
their office, too tired to find time for the two of us
Our
world, mine and my little sister's, hinges upon Sarla aunty.
She too loves us a lot and takes
care to feed us both
Morsels of fondly cooked tasty
food soaked in her love
I am
sure if she had gone to school,
She
would have helped us with our homework too.
My
heart longs to call her Sarla Mom
But I
don't, for fear it might hurt my mother.
The Small Child
They
all call me a small child; I am in the fourth grade
And how
mesmerized I always am by the Google-like efficiency
Of my father and my father's father to answer
readily and promptly
All my
queries related to Maths, Science and other school subjects
But you
know how it puzzles and quaintly amuses me to see them turnaround
And
become small, inquisitive and curious kids
Struggling
with the mysteries of the Mobile, Computer and ATM
And
always rushing to me for solving their problems
With
their whatsapp or Paytm or online shopping
I feel
like a wizard, flattered and on cloud nine
But
careful enough not to be pompous and to humbly help them
Always
remembering I am what I am because of them.
Wonderland
How
often I was lulled to sleep in the cozy bed of my grandmother
Listening
to the enchanting tales of fairies carrying a magic wand in their hands
Of
grand palaces with tall trees all around, beautiful gardens of evergreen flowers,
Milky-white
waterfalls and lovely lakes with swans swimming in them
And of princesses rescued in the end from the
demons disgusting,
By their charming princes, to live together
happily ever after
How the
bedtime stories fascinated me as they took me to a wonderland
How I
loved the Cinderella story and the story of the delicate princess
Who
would feel the pinch of the pea pod placed below a pile of twenty mattresses
And also
of the poor princess cursed by the evil fairy to fall asleep for hundred years
How all
my how, what, where, when and whys were answered often
But
sometimes met with my loving grandmother’s warning to stop her story-telling if
I asked too much
Bio
Note: Jaishree Shanker
Jaishree Shanker is working as Associate Professor in the Department of English & Foreign Languages, M D University, Rohtak. Her overall teaching experience spans a long period of more than thirty-five years. She has actively associated with research through paper presentations and publications. Her poems have found place in Mosaic of Poetic Musings: Contemporary Women Poets from India, an anthology that includes poems from 138 Indian women poets writing in English and settled in India and abroad and has recently been published by Authorspress, and in the creative section of the prestigious Journal, English Scholarship beyond Borders.
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