Puppet

by Vinita Agrawal

[box]This is the story of a puppet that was brought home by a family as a souvenir of a good holiday. But eventually, it turns out to be something more than a puppet for the narrator. Vinita Agrawal captures the feelings of a woman through poetry.[/box]

We bought it in the bazaars of Jaipur
– a souvenir of a good holiday.
Unwrapped, it ornamented the living room wall
A painted face on a red skirt body
Large kohl-lined eyes, long-limbed
Moving only when bidden.

It saw but never spoke
Never cried
Always smiled, looked bridal
And the children wanted to play with it.

It never gained weight
Never wanted sex
Not even after a rain storm
And had the detachment
That the Buddha would have envied.

It stayed like that for years
Until one Diwali you thought it had
Gathered too much dust
And trashed it.

I admired it too much to let go
And secretly fished it out of the dustbin
Hid it in the cupboard
It was everything that I could never be.

Pic : Megan –

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/153/424345063_5e1651930e_m.jpg

Vinita Agrawal is a Delhi-based writer and poet and has been published in international print and online journals.

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