Mother witch pounded again Halloween night is upon us the completion of all tasks will get you the worst witch award Don’t use the forbidden words please and thank you and such Practice your witchcraft flickering of candles and inflicting warts
Petunia, the reluctant witch in training, last year was disbarred for she couldn’t bring out her bad So this year she will try to fit in to Bring glory to her family of villains
Uncovered her new broom stuffed some tricks up her sleeves to bloom appeared from behind a thicket almost looking wicked Spooked some Screamed loud Turned into a black cat and frowned
Then came her final task of casting a spell and kissing a village to turn it into rubble, ruins and ashes That’s when she forgot the most important rule of all Kissing of the witch doesn’t bring bad luck if her heart has even a string of love
And so she lost for, her kind heart was her biggest flaw Became the laughing stock of all Witches teased and clamored Here goes Petunia The best witch with manners.
Clearly Halloween is on my mind. My daughter wants to be a witch this year and so Christine’s prompt got this out of me.
Step aside, all stereotypes don’t label inks she doesn’t just wear the color purple and pink no more forbidding blues and blacks she won’t take any flack.
Step aside stereotypes this is a different kind of fairy land This Cinderella wears sneakers and doesn’t sit on bleachers She’s her own kind of Snow White who doesn’t need a prince for she can rescue herself alright. Don’t call her Sleeping Beauty for she prefers a name blue eyes and white skin are not her only fame.
So step aside stereotypes She wears ballet shoes and isn’t scared of walking on cinders. She chooses to be well put or unkempt chooses to smile, breathe fire, and sometimes even repent. Her scars and contusions are her pride and for all this she doesn’t apologize.
August 15th, India’s Independence Day. In the regular run of life I completely forgot, until my feeds on Facebook lighted up with the “tri-color”. How could I forget such an important day, a day which was an integral part of my childhood?
This got me thinking – what made this day important? Was it the date itself or the celebrations, the flag hoisting and the patriotic songs which went with it? Never mind the reason, by forgetting the day have I become “un” Indian?
What makes a person a countryman(woman)? Is it the color and design of one’s passport or the life which is prudently woven? Is it the place you were born in or the place with which you share your successes and failures? Is it the country you “belong to” or the country you “live in”?
After 12 years of migration out of my country, while I may still “belong” to India, I “live” in America. I share my successes and failures here. I Celebrate July 4th with all the zeal and paraphernalia. I enjoy and am part of the fireworks, the three day holiday, the sales inspired shopping spree. I solemnly stand and sing the “land of the brave and country of the free”, holding the red blue and white, albeit, sometimes messing up the lyrics. Still, when someone asks me the customary question of where am I from? I know they are expecting and so I reply, “India”. “un” American?
That’s my misplaced identity and for a lot many like me. Simply put, we belong to a country but we don’t live in it. We live in a country but we don’t belong to it. Alas, human emotions and reality is not always simple and maybe this one time, it’s good.
I may forget dates and lyrics but I remember ME. This “me” which is made up of everything I have in these two countries. One, where I hold sacred my past, my parents and the other, where I shape my future, my kids. It’s not a choice, it can’t be a choice. It’s about embracing the two.
Forgetting my past is selfish, just like forgetting my present is ungrateful. So, while it sometimes feels like a case of misplaced identities, it’s never a situation of misplaced loyalties. I am loyal to both worlds; one given to me and one created by me.
Wrote this piece a month back but couldn’t get myself to share it until today. Would love to hear from at least some of you.
