Aurat: Hindi poem by Shakuntala Sharma English version: Rajni Chhabra

 WOMAN

**********

Woman

Stretches hands

Along with it

Mouth too

Woman

Spews out all her problems 

On every stage

Woman says 

These problems are heavy...very heavy

Man 

Ignores these

Woman steps on 

Narrow, widespread

Tracks

Hides

In green fields

And plucks a flower

' Psychic force'

And ties it hard

In her bale

And ...then

In front of woman 

Spreads and spreads 

An equation

In expanded form 

Woman views 

All-around

Observes 

Ponders

Ensconce 

Fruit in bale

' Psychic force'

Increases

Problem decreases

If  'Psychic force'

Decreases

Problem increases

Woman

Looks at 

Fruit in bale

In the background of bale

Since echoes

Her self-respect

Prestige

Power and

Love

Are prevalent

And

Very patiently

She has relished

Fruit from the bale.