Sakhi: The Girlfriend

 My dear friend Poornima Paranjape forwarded me a poem in Marathi  yesterday. Who would have thought a poem about menstruation can be so beautiful? But it touched somewhere deep inside and I casually said to her that I am tempted to translate it into English. Little did I expect that she would entertain my impulse and I would actually end up acting on it!! 

May be the original genius poetess who wrote the Marathi lines would identify herself and we could give her all the credit for this truly touching piece of poetry! 

                                                                                      

*II सखी II*

ती आली आयुष्यात अन् मी मोठी झाले

अवखळ मुलीची एकदम बाई झाले

नको वाटायचे तिचे येणे

सगळ्यात असून दूर बसणे

सण नाही वार नाही

तिचे येणे ठरलेले

अन् तिच्या येण्याने माझे बेत उधळलेले

बरोबर महिन्याने यायची,

येण्याआधी आठ दिवस चाहुल द्यायची

इतकी सवय झाली तिची 

की नाही आली वेळेवर तर मी चिडायची

सगळे तिचे नखरे सहन केले

तिने नाचवले तशी नाचले

तिनेच एकदा न येऊन सांगितले गुपित

आई होशील आता गर्भ रुजलाय कुशीत

तेवढाच काय तो दुरावा बारा महिन्यांचा

पण नंतर आलीच परत भाग होऊन आयुष्याचा

इतकी वर्षे चाललेय तिच्या सोबत

कधी कंटाळा दाखवला नाही

आता मात्र काय झालेय तिचे

मनातलं काही सांगत नाही

नसलं मनात तर येत नाही दोन दोन महिने

मी मात्र सैरभैर तिच्या न येण्याने

कशासाठी ही चिडचिड कोणालाच कळत नाही

कशासाठी ही कासावीशी माझे मला वळत नाही

कधीमधी येत राहून ती मला चिडवणार

तिच्याच मनासारखे वागून ती मला ताटकळवणार

ती यायला लागली तेव्हा सोहळा केला होता आईने

तिच्या जाण्याची हुरहुर मात्र सोसतेय मी एकटीने

एक वेळ अशी येईल तिचे येणे बंद होईल

एक कप्पा आयुष्यातला कायमचा दूर होईल

होईन मी मुक्त बांधिलकीतून म्हणून वाजवावीशी वाटतेय टाळी

तुमचीही परिस्थिती नाही माझ्यापेक्षा वेगळी

वाचताना गालात हसाल

ही तर माझीच कहाणी म्हणाल 

येते मनाने जाते मनाने ही

बंधन कसले पाठवत नाही

येताना तारुण्यपण देते

जाताना म्हातारपणाची चाहूल देते 

*अशी ही एकमेव मैत्रीण खाशी,*

*जरी असल्या आपल्या बारा राशी!*

“ The Girlfriend “

( An ode to menstruation)

Her entry made my life unfurl

A woman I turned instantly from a playful girl 

Her coming deplored, as I could see

Myself pulled out from company 

No season, date or festive day

Could ever keep this dame at bay

She kept her schedule every time

And I was always thrown off mine

I had borne her whims till much immune

And danced every step to her tune

 Each month her coming was for sure

Soft footsteps heard a week before 

She’d become such a familiar mate

It irked if she was slightly late.

In absence she once whispered in my ear

Motherhood is at your door my dear

A new life just got seeded deep

For some time away I must keep 

Once I had treaded through that year

Back into my life she did appear 

I’ve walked by her side and not even once

Shown signs of tiring or annoyance

Yet her ways seem stranger by the day

To read her mind I have no way

 For a month or two she disappears 

Leaving me to face my fears

Why am I so irate ? They all struggle to guess

I too find no answers to my own restlessness 

This hide and seek she plays to tease

Me a toy in her hands to please

How fondly mom celebrated her coming

Now alone in distress I stand when she’s going

A time will come when she will not return

A part of me will drop at that turn

The thought of freedom makes me clap

I know that you too feel like that

Read my tale and smile you will

For its your own story, you may feel

A life she enters abandons at her will

No attachments, and no wounds to heal

Youth in hand she comes aboard

Smiles back at Age as she leaves the door

Across dozen zodiac signs we spread

Yet this one friend is our common thread 

( original Marathi poem written by an as yet anonymous poet, translated into English by Madhavi Risbud of Bakersfield,California)

Saree is a Venkatgiri handloom gossamer silk cotton in coffee brown with jari checks and border.