Bhima Gold

I would wave it before her

The jewellery ad 

On the magazine page

The model decked

Neck to navel in gold

I would ask her excitedly,

"Would you give me,

This much gold

For my marriage?"

It was like a skit we played

So often 

It had become

A ritual

Amma would nod

A no

Then I would hold

My palm to my stomach

"This much?"

"No" again

I would then raise

My palm a bit higher

"This much?"

She would nod again

A nay

On my palm would go

From stomach

To chest

To neck

Each time

She would answer

"No"

Finally I would ask

"Would you give me

One necklace

Amma?"

She would nod

A yes this time

And we would all

Burst out laughing

-

Chandni Girija

April 18, 2021

Note: Usually a poem should stand alone. However, I would like to add an appendix to this one. The recent ad by Bhima Gold. In the poem, it could have been any jeweller's ad. However, it has been titled 'Bhima Gold' in honour of the watershed moment they have created in mainstream ad world - showing a family helping a trans-woman accept and blossom into her identity. There are some questions embedded within and around this poem and this ad. Why still dowry? Why do girlhood dreams have gold? And why can't a trans-woman have the same conventional dreams privileged to cis-women? Let us keep thinking, and answer them gradually, together. Right now though, the Bhima golden moment ought to be cheered. 

Day 18 of 30 | 30 Poems in 30 Days | National Poetry Writing Month #napowrimo