Lot's Wife Edition 2 2021

Lot’s Wife • Edition Two
Lot’s Wife • Edition Two
Where
Words by Parth Sharma
Content warning: child marriage, implication of sexually predatory behaviour
Dusty Delhi is a city drenched
with everything: gangajal
and urine, blood
and spit, notime
and littlespace, sewage
and milk. Walking
through its streets is like pushing
through dirt-syrup,
gulab jamun sluggishness.
Dusty Delhi is:
a state,
a people,
a time,
a place,
where looks are exchanged like paise,
where marigolds scent the naaliyaan,
where the gareeb beat back oblivion,
around silent onlookers,
where the beggars and urchins
are the rajeh of the streets,
where the culture is drowned,
diluted among millions,
where tradition is a trishool
in the hands of family,
where dhool clogs your lungs,
your marriage and children,
where morals are gone –
they have emigrated,
they went long ago
and were replaced
with car horns and smog,
with 12-year-old brides,
and their teddy-bears.
Out in the crowded markets,
around ripe aam and stray dogs,
80-year-old dadas grin devilishly,
as they score
12-rupee fruit.
Art by John Paul Macatol
Art by Arushi Thakral
gangajal: water from the river Ganges
trishool: trident, typically refers to the trident wielded in
gulab jamun: a sweet, brown dessert made of a deepfried
depictions of Shiva
ball of batter, drenched in rose-and-sugar syrup dhool: general term referring to dust, dirt, particulates,
paise: money
etc.
naaliyaan: plural of ‘naali’, translates to ‘gutters’ aam: is also its own plural (like ‘sheep’ in English),
gareeb: general term referring to the poor, homeless,
translates to ‘mangoes’
indigent, etc.
dadas: plural of ‘dada’, translates to ‘grandfathers’, or
rajeh: plural of ‘rajah’, translates to ‘emperors’
more generally refers to elderly men
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