‘Wearing new clothes’

The first one

to wear a blouse- Gnanadanandini

brought visual difference.

Women grew, with the blouse,

after that.

She was no Christian, no Muslim-

she was Hindu.

Earlier, it was a wrapped up torso.

Making no difference

came petticoats,

still they began to wear.

Then, they tried trousers, shirts.

Beneath, length differed.

But, the concern lies

in another difference,

a change alike,

as they defied

the horror of the past.

New silk clothes need to be stitched.

No unstitched clothes.

Wearing those out

of the woven curtain.

New cotton clothes need to be worn,

and,they can still belong

to the Aryans,

if they say.

They can try to undo that,

if they say.

As they learnt to wear

from the Parsees,

they should learn to wear

out the torpor,

to wear the new clothes.