Unholy Women by Madhu Shruti Mukherjee

Unholy Women

Madhu Shruti Mukherjee

“Why are you touching it?” cried Ma from afar. She came hurriedly to the altar And snatched the idol from me. “Don’t you know? Bleeding women can’t touch God. Bleeding women are considered unholy.”

That made me think- This wasn’t the first time I heard the word It was echoed at cousin Rita’s wedding. They blamed her For not bleeding on the wedding night And cursed her for the unholiness spreading.

Which reminds me- not very long ago I had offered alms to a woman And shaken her hand when Baba pulled me back. “These aren’t real women!” he cried. “These are just men dressed up. Don’t ever touch anyone from this unholy pack!”

And only yesterday We cremated my sister who died From the grief of bearing an unholy daughter. Her in-laws blamed her For being unable to gift them a son They simply couldn’t put their family name up for slaughter.

I realized I had been lost for some time. So I handed the idol back to Ma And asked her to look at me. "Don't you know? Bleeding or not-no matter who we are We women were born unholy.”