Sisterhood
by Yashasvi Vachhani
In a Churchgate bound train, two girls are dressing up, one is wearing a red dress, against the blue of the seats, she looks like a blazing sunset. The other is wearing a white kurta with a bandhani dupatta, black with white dots, the night sky stretched across her. Let’s presume they are off to a party. Red has her eyes closed, black is wielding a wand, drawing lines over her eyelids. She moves closer, gently blows over her lid, while all the women in the compartment watch. Nodding in approval. Isn’t that what we do? Apply war paint, and send them off into the world, like baby mamas, like sweet nonnas, like sinning sisters. We click photos. Come into the light. Look down. Chin up. Howl at the moon. We whisper sweet nothings kaatil nigaahein, chikni chameli, woot woot, you’re beautiful, it’s true. We serenade, we voice note, we wallow. We stand in the wings holding a cup of chai and a box of tissues. Mama ducks waiting for our hatchlings to waddle back home.
Yashasvi Vachhani is a poet, editor, and educator. She facilitates creative writing and reading programs for children across ages. Her work has been featured in SWWIM Miami, Of Brave Hearts and Dry Tongues, and Singapore Unbound. She is the founding editor of Tiffinbox Review.