THE POWER OF SOPRANO

A HAIBUN- COMBINATION OF HAIKU POETRY AND PROSE

draped in a saree

the soprano sings

of deliverance

Last week, I had to clear the Chrysanthemums in the back garden from blackberry vines. However, while embracing the beauty of flowers, I got swarmed by the irked honeybees. Alarmed and panicked, I skedaddled and eventually got rid of the bees. Standing at a distance, I realised that I had touched the beehive and hence landed in hot waters. I was amazed at bees’ uproar and clamour towards their prospective predator. The love and the reverence of bees towards their beloved beehive immediately raised the thoughts of a memory of colonisation- a memory of the liberation from asphyxiating suffocating and constricting shackles. A reminiscence of seeking freedom against ‘An Uninvited Invader’ who penetrated deep into the sphere and went on to oppression. The allegiance of the swarming worker bees- all female bees corroborated that the female presence is completely indispensable for seeking victory.

glorious dusk

a lone lioness pounces

on a clan of hyenas

I blinked in admiration and turned back to my cottage. On my way back, I started thinking of various women figures who fought with undaunting spirit and put an end to British Raj in India. Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi whose magnificent leadership and heroism laid an exceptional example of real patriotism. Rani Lakshmi became a symbol of resistance to the British Raj for Indian nationalists. She fought back against Britain’s plan to annex her kingdom in the 1850s. Women played an incredible role in ‘The First War of Independence’- Rani of Ramgarh, Rani Jindan Kaur, Rani Tara Bai, Baiza Bai, Chauhan Rani, Tapasvini Maharani daringly led their troops into the battlefield. I was truly flattered and dazzled. Where men of eminence, Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose and Chandrasekhar Azad emerged as leaders in the nineteenth century, Women stalwarts- Sarojini Naidu, Annie Besant, Kamala Nehru, Aruna Ali and Kasturba Gandhi too contributed both in battlefield and in political field. Naidu, campaigned and led from the front in the Civil Disobedience Movement and Salt Satyagraha, Besant set up educational institutions, Nehru was the flagbearer of Non- Cooperation Movement, Ali was responsible for unfurling the flag in Bombay to signify the start of ‘Quit India movement’ and Gandhi remained the figurehead of Satyagraha Movement. Apart from these figures, I also knew that there remained umpteen unsung women who unfurled the talismanic colour of freedom. The mere thought of these eminent personalities made me brim with pride and confidence. Meanwhile, I reached the hallway and strangely could feel the ‘Victory Clamour’ echoing across the hallway.

hours before the daylight

canaries fly

piercing the darkness

At the end of the hallway, I saw Alena moving bric-a-brac in the living room while donning my old shirt on the top of her maternity smock. Seeing her labour, I walked towards her and kissed her. Finding this uncanny, Alena chuckled and vamoosed.