by Vani Viswanathan
In all the odes we write about love
Those about the rich and the poor
The far and near
The ones that survived
And the ones that didn’t
The heartbreaks and the tears
We forget to think of a few
A few that are very real
That many people think are untrue,
Plain weird, funny;
Couldn’t have happened,
Or shouldn’t have.
These very real few stories
The tiny ones
Have to be heard too, shouldn’t they?
So how about I tell you
Of the one where the woman
Was a whole three feet taller than her man?
And strong too, for
She would lift him in her arms
When they wanted to kiss?
Or the three
Who didn’t find not being a two a problem!
And spent a good 40 years
Being a threesome
You should also know
Of the father
Who quietly supported
The daughter’s sexuality
After her mother
Slapped her when she
Caught her necking with
The girl next door
Oh, and let me not forget
The one time the
15-year-old stood on tiptoe
To kiss the 54-year-old Physics teacher
And didn’t think he would ever
See a better kiss all his life?
These few stories
I got to know
Over the 50 years I spent
Going around the world
Whispered over lunches
Confided in over tea
But never told
To celebrate
Isn’t it time
We hear these more, too?
Vani Viswanathan is often lost in her world of books and A R Rahman, churning out lines in her head or humming a song. Her world is one of frivolity, optimism, quietude and general chilled-ness, where there is always place for outbursts of laughter, bouts of silence, chocolate, ice cream and lots of books and endless iTunes playlists from all over the world. She is now a CSR communications consultant, and has been blogging at http://chennaigalwrites.blogspot.com since 2005.
