Cultural Hegemony & Untold Genocides by Rinita Mazumdar PhD
A Poem Dedicated To Hindu Women Who Faced Sexual Violence in 2024 In Sandeshkhli West Bengal India.
Behula’s Boat
As dusk descended on the earth on the wings of an ancient owl,
The black heaven, the bluish moon, and the purple stars all turned into misty dreams,
Behula rowed her boat
On the murky moss-filled river
Upstream….
All alone….
Behula kept calling in a low – pitched tone,
“Remember sisters
We must reach our island
Before the break of the dawn…”
Women of all ages jumped into the murky river
Some swam with weeds on their back
Some paddled on the sandy bed,
Some held onto a piece of log
To remain afloat
As one by one
They all
Climbed onto Behula’s boat…
One peasant girl with hands bleeding from husking rice day and night,
One woman with sore body
From years of childbirth
One with a child hanging from her breast
One with a half burnt body
Accused of being a witch
One maimed one raped
One circulated in the market
For use and exchange…
One woman with wrinkled face
Selling coconuts and banana leaves
Called from the bank
“Sisters, can you take me, do you have some space?
They carried her on their lap
And rowed upstream
Till they reached the fisherwoman’s warf
They rowed over carcass of crows, moynas, and sparrows
Of dry leaves and dead flowers, moss and weeds…
The night was like a slate
And the wind was harsh
The carcass of a dead jackal and deer
Floated along the bank…
From the bed of the water rose a sand dune
Shaped like the vulva
One owl hooted and circled
Around the pale blue moon…
Some distant flute player
Played a gypsy tune….
As the darkness melted,
And the misty morning dawned,
One woman stood on a boat and said,
“Look sisters, look ahead
We made it to our land..”
The twin island stood
On the river’s edge,
As the fisherwomen cast their net
To catch history, culture, truth, and time,
Labia Majora
Labia Minora
Splashed in golden sunshine….
And gathered many boats
And many women rowed
In the silent icy cold night
Upstream…
More Information
Sandeshkhali, West Bengal, India. Sandeshkhali is a border area in the State of West Bengal, that borders Bangladesh.
Further Reading
Shiva’s Dance in Albuquerque
Rinita Mazumdar, Ph.D. is one of the leading feminist scholars in the Southwest. Originally from India, Dr. Mazumdar earned her Masters from India and Canada in Philosophy and MSc in Psychology from the University of Phoenix. She received her Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Find her poetry collection, “Shiva’s Dance in Albuquerque” by clicking here.
Forthcoming Work
Noakhali, 1946: By Sandip Mukherjee, Translated and recreated by Rinita Mazumdar PhD. Subscribe below for access to pre-sale discounts and signed copies!
