Jayshree Misra Tripathi (Diaspora Dual Identities)

Jayshree Misra Tripathi

I

Ushered gently towards a sacred space,

jasmine and sandalwood assail my senses

as I kneel on a colourful mat,

palms folded in reverence. Musical notes

from a well-loved harmonium

strike familiar chords in my heart,

as those around me begin to sway.

Where am I?

Sudden despair pricks my eyelids,

my lowered gaze shields me from

eyebrows raised in concern.

Here on this island, on distant shores,

a temporary resident, far from my Homeland

that I continue to be homesick for, truth dawns.

In my mind’s eye, I see Him and Her -Their

hands raised in blessings for the motley crowd.

Harmony in diversity, bonded by Prayer.

 

 

II

 

That October morning we left Kampala at dawn,

to arrive in Jinja, well in time, to commemorate

 a ‘universal apostle of peace and non-violence’

the plaque states - beloved Bapu ji, Mahatma Gandhi.

He had wished for some of his ashes to be scattered

in great rivers across the world, it is said, and here,

in the waters of the source of the Nile in Africa.

Every year, his statue is garlanded, his life celebrated.

We observe moments of silence. Peaceful moments.

Together. Strangers from different cultures.

Standing here, on the northern shores of Lake Victoria,

the White Nile flows so serene, I reflect ……till the rapids

further down; Words have raged between countries

over water rights at journey’s end, the Blue Nile. Life flows on.

 

 

Jayshree Misra Tripathi's writing focuses on the human experience, especially the silenced voices of women. She draws on over six decades of global experiences–as a child from Odisha to England, then as an adult to six countries. Jayshree worked briefly in print media in the 1980’s. She travelled with her husband, an Indian diplomat, to diverse cultures and taught English, where permissible. She has been an examiner in English, for the IB Diploma and an International Education Consultant. Her poems and short stories have been published in global anthologies and reviewed in the Sahiyta Akademi's Journal of Indian Literature.

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Setu, April 2025