Outside the Prabhadevi mandir, everything
is saffron: Lakshmi’s wicker basket of genda phool,
the BAL THACKERAY VADA PAV STALL,
Rafiul Islam’s Juice Stand banner (also his orange juice),
and the controversial nagda putla standing proudly up
ahead, at the border of Cadell Road. Everything saffron
-ised, everything the same as it’s always been, only
slightly modified. To keep up with the times. For instance,
the cows — Gowri, Sita, Komal, Radha — have been
grazing on the concrete street, half-asleep, for years.
But the saffron प्रभादेवी statue sign rose from the ground
some time between 2015 and 2019, years I spent studying
in Sonepat, searching for what it means to be at home,
what it means to have opinions, what it means to have
a nation. Everything the same as it’s always been,
only now slightly modified. For instance, I still spend
my evenings outside the Prabhadevi mandir. Only
difference: I do not have tears to shed, I do not have
anything to ask for, I do not have any reason to hold
onto sadness. Around me, friends order mango milkshakes
and mosambi juices. Without sugar. Tejas gives me a hug,
and I can see the devi smiling at me from inside.
Yesterday, Sakshi Mallik was dragged out of protest
while Modi dragged a saffron clan into the New Parliament.
Today at home, I lit the villakku at 6 pm sharp, and saw
Muruga’s vel in its flame. Outside the Prabhadevi mandir,
Rafiul Islam accepts my ₹200 note, and offers me a genda
phool in return. Devi ke liye, he says. An exchange done
entirely in saffron. And my friends and I, we’re still outside,
drinking mango milkshake and mosambi juice, making plans
for this weekend. So I don’t enter the temple just yet.
That is for me to do alone.
Madras Courier originally ran as a broadsheet with a poetry section. It was a time when readers felt comfortable sharing glimpses of their lives through verse. If you have a poem you’d like to submit, do email us at editor@madrascourier.com.
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