Madhu Sriwastav

Categorisers

I grew up multilingual
speaking Hindi and Bengali 
Learnt the alphabet in a convent
White and navy blue in school 
sheltered me from racist sneers
homogeneity camouflaged
Once married with cultural markers 
I was 'othered' becoming a different person overnight
My education, intellect took a backseat
As the colour of my vermillion
the make of my bangles
the drape of my saris made a sea change
Caught in the currents
I decided to let go
of all the specific markers
thrust on my identity 
to walk out and
 through the stretch of life
lying ahead …
with my head held high
as one with myself and 
the world as the other
People still looked for those markers to pin me down
as dissected parts of a cockroach on a board 
labelling escorts memory 
I assert my ever-expanding self 
refusing templates 
Write my own life
as I feel it 
as I speak it
as it comes to me
 as I receive and reciprocate it
Good luck to the categorisers 
You are going to have a jolly dance
as I create and recreate myself!

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