It was a normal morning when she woke up and walked into the kitchen. When we look at the bed she woke up from, she goes to brush her teeth and is thinking, should I have an orange juice or coffee? Yes, the wrong choice of orange juice post brushing, have you experienced how bitter it would be?
Talking about choices, she walks into the kitchen, and her mother is cooking something. Well, it’s early morning, mom is cooking, and light smoke comes up and fills the kitchen. It is natural to want a hug from mom, right? Well, remember about bad choices and bitterness at breakfast and orange juice? It is about to become real.
She walks in close to her mother,
The mother slights steps away from her.
She nudges her eyes to see what’s wrong,
All she wanted was a hug all along.
Maybe having orange juice would’ve been better today,
Then what was waiting to come her way?
Stay away from me for the next three days,” her mother says,
Exactly what a child needs to hear as she wakes.
In case it’s not clear, she clearly has committed a crime of getting her own periods! Yes, the audacity, how can you get your period? You can control it and stop it, right? The thing is some people do nothing to control what they can’t control.
She is the mother, so she said for three days, if it were a dad or brother or any male figure, he might’ve said “just get out of the house, this house is not for the weak. Do you know how much men go through every day?” Oh yes we gotta talk about men when women’s problems come up, it’s the norm now.
She was told she is untouchable for the day,
Just a normal day of racism in India, anyway.
She was asked to sit in the corner to do nothing,
Just what men say when women do something.
She stands there still, not moving an inch,
Unsure what to hold or which thing to touch.|
The words were said very loud and crystal clear,
And now she knows she can’t come anywhere near.
A plate was thrown at her from the corner with some breakfast in it. She was made to sit in a corner, as that’s how the country treats untouchables. If you don’t know, ask your grandparents, they have perfect guides on how to treat them and feel very proud about it.
As she eats her breakfast in the corner, everyone looks at her with great meanings starting from “do you have to get your period today?” “What if relatives come?” “Couldn’t you have taken a pill or something? and many important ones.
She can’t touch anything as she is impure,
They have checked the science, and they are sure.
She can’t even have some ghee or pickle for comfort,
Touching them would spoil the items, and feelings would be hurt.
She is very weak, very vulnerable, and can’t be smart,
Forget modernity, this is how it has been from the start,
They are very emotional and leave them alone,
By letting them suffer is how care is shown.
It is not like we are asking them to do something hard, right? It’s just three days being alone. I mean, that is a dream as it comes from meme education, right? A person suffering from back pain, stomach pain, and constant weakness needs isolation. Not caring, not asking if she wants anything or not if she wants to go somewhere to take her mind off. Just suffer in isolation.
Forget going somewhere, she can’t even go to the place where god resides. Apparently, she is so impure that even god might become impure. The creator of everything, the omnipresent, and the omnipotent might become impure by a woman in her period? Yep, that sounds right as it’s called tradition.
Oh, she got her period? Step away, man, coz that’s how it works. Don’t sit near, touch anything, act normal, and keep your distance. You can call it tradition, respect, whatever helps it sound right. No need to ask anything, no need to know anything. No need to rush, just play your game, scroll your reels, let those three days pass, and then it ends.
And suddenly everything is normal again. You sit with her, you talk, you laugh, just as before in the same house. Nothing changed, except what you chose to do. So let’s not dress it up. If it disappears for a few days and suddenly shows affection is not love.
Because actual love doesn’t switch on and off like that, it just cares and prioritizes. Sitting with her, getting her pads without making it a thing, bringing her something she likes, laughing with her, holding her hand, understanding that she might not be okay, and not walking away because of it. It’s not big or complicated. It’s just caring for the person you love.
And love that needs comfort to exist was never love in the first place.
Chitrapatam 
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