Koli Women By Saranyan BV

Koli Women

 By Saranyan BV

Today I sat next to the woman

in the public transport which carries you places,

whiff of holy shrimp was upon her -

she was not hiding a basket under, never changed my seat,

knew her to be a fisherwoman;

the fisher-folks in this part are fair, very fair

and present look of royalty,

she wore a parkhi, the kind of shoulder scarf

the Koli women wear, her wrinkles had a pattern,

she used them for tweaking the glasses

which were too bulky for that muzzle,

I figured she can’t read or write

or count beyond hundred,

but can shell a prawn down to the last thread.

Saranyan BV is a Mumbai based poet and also writes short stories. He loves Raymond Carver and Emily Dickenson. His latest story are 'if wishes were monsters' and 'Hyenas do not suffer from folly of belief'.

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