IndiaStar: "Load Shedding" --a poem
by Lakshmi Gopinathan Nair

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Load Shedding: a poem

by Lakshmi Gopinathan Nair

[Editor's intro: Lakshmi Gopinathan Nair is a graduate student in the
South Asian Studies program at the University of California, Berkeley.
"Load shedding" refers to scheduled power outages to balance the
demand for electricity with the limited supply. Unscheduled black-outs
also occur fairly regularly.]

There's still a pink line
in the sky when
Ammumma and the mamis
rush about
for mombatti
and thi patti.

From different parts
of the house
we trickle
out onto the verandah
and find our
favorite spots.

And then
at the scheduled time...
poof...
all the lights go out
and the candles
are lit.

The little ones
nestle in
laps
contentedly
as fingers
rummage
absently
through their hair
finding
nothing
in the dim light.

Mahesh Maman
sings
in his clear
gentle voice
to Mookambike
of the green hill.

My favorite uncle.
Everyone says
how alike we are.
We are
like soulmates,
I think,
never running
out of things
to talk about.

In another time,
I would have been
his murapennu.

I hug
my just budding body
close
as my young mind
dwindles on the thought
for just... a moment.

"Sick! He's your uncle!"
and I slap at the
mosquitos
that bite at my feet
to chase the thought away

squashing it and
tossing it onto
the heap of
unspoken,
unbidden,
discarded
thoughts
that pile up
in the middle
of the floor.

Then the stories begin...

Sad stories,
funny stories,

They spin out
into the humid air
and loop
around us
like a shawl.

history,
herstory,
mystory...
mystery

Faces shine
with sweat
in the flickering
light.

We shed our loads

The candles are
now mere stubs in
a blob of melted
wax.

And then,
poof...
the lights come on.