The Little Brown Box

A lazy Sunday afternoon where the deceptive sunshine outside the window lulls me into a false sense of warmth. As I get ready for a bundled-up walk in the neighbourhood, I wish to share this poem.

The Little Brown Box

My Indian-ness comes to me with greater clarity
far away from “home”

it comes to me with a sting
when people speak to me loudly
to ensure that I understand

it comes to me with a familiar fragrance
of wood-smoke on a rainy day
it comes from a steakhouse in Markham
not the roasted peanut stand in Mumbai

it comes to me with the refreshing coolness
of sticky brown paint I smear on the women’s’ day banner

my Indian-ness proclaims proudly,
everyday, head held high

I am Ramanujan, I am Arundhati Roy
I am Tagore, am Gandhi, and I am Kalpana Chawla

I am so much more
than silk saris and spicy samosas

you casually, callously pack me away
in your little brown box
in your ignorance, you do not know
that I like so many others

can and will reach for the stars
that shine for me, as they do for you
from their celestial distance, they have the vision
that you sadly lack

they see me for who I am and what I can achieve
they see beyond the melanin in my epidermis
and wait for my glory to light up the world.

(Srinivasa Ramanujan was a world renowned mathematician
Arundhati Roy won the 1997 Booker prize for her book “The God of small things”
Tagore is India’s Nobel Laureate (1912 for his poetic work Gitanjali)
M.K Gandhi led the people of India with principles of non-violence towards self rule and his work is said to have inspired MLK Jr. in the Civil Rights movement in the US.
Kalpana Chawla was the NASA astronaut who tragically perished with her co-workers in 2003.)

Rashmee Karnad-Jani © 2005