Sunayna Pal (Diaspora Dual Identities)

Sunayna Pal

MG Road In Mumbai

 

Does MG Road in Mumbai 

where I spent my childhood

walking to and from home

to school, then college

later, even work

remember me as much as I do?

The same street

where I learned to walk

and cycle and then scoot.

Does it remember the places 

I fell, bruised my knees

cried but learned to get up again?

 

And the bench where they served 

junglee sandwiches and cutting tea.

The corner where I got my first kiss

and the other corner of SV Road where 

I cried after my heartbreak

or the Banyan tree where I learned to giggle.

 

Does rain still dance

on the tin roofs and miss me?

Does the filling Vada Pao

still steam and sting

more than the zooming

Virar fast train?

 

Does traffic still stop

when you raise your hand

Thank you, Mumbai,

for giving me the strength 

to cross the globe

and make a new home

 

elsewhere.

Jalebi And Jilapi

 

Funny sounding words

if you aren’t familiar

with this delicious Indian sweet

made by frying flour batter

in a spiral shape

and then soaking it in sugar syrup.

 

One of these words -

Jalebi and Jilapi

might be funny to you

if you aren’t familiar

with the diversity of India

as Jalebi is spoken in the northern

and Jilapi in the eastern part.

 

One of these methods 

may be funny to you

if you aren’t familiar

with the varied practices

followed in India of 

cherishing it with

curd or rabri.

 

I feel blessed to be aware 

of both the words

Jalebi and Jilapi

describing the same desert

because I jumped out of my well

and moved to America.

 

 

Sunayna Pal's poetry graces the pages of numerous international journals, anthologies, museums, poetry festivals, textbooks, buses, and libraries, resonating with readers worldwide. Her debut book, Refugees in Their Own Country (B&W Fountain), vividly narrates the Partition of India through evocative verse and illustrations, while her second book, Please Go to the Park (Bottlecap Press), is an invitation to embark on a journey of self-discovery. As the Director of The Poetry Academy, Sunayna nurtures a deep appreciation for poetry in others. She is dedicated to Heartfulness meditation. Residing in Maryland with her family, Sunayna invites readers to explore her work and journey at sunaynapal.com.

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Setu, April 2025