Ja


Ja in Sanskrit means born from -

ambuja, neerja, pankaja, saroja*

Born from water.

Synonyms for lotus.

The flower that grows in mud, unstained

like the sun rising from night.

You were a lotus in my womb.

cradled in the waters of birth.

I held on to you with my breaths.

Every inhalation 

filling your pink lungs with life

for you to emerge unstained.

But they wouldn’t let you.

They -  who wanted more sperms

in the family, than ovaries.

They stained your immaculate body

with knives.

I’ve bled so much since then

that when I walk

red liquid seeps from my feet.

Like the Buddha,

I leave lotus marks 

with every step I take

ambuja, neerja, pankaja, saroja.

* common names for girls in India. The poem addresses the practice of female foeticide prevalent in some parts of India.