Round rotis
She struggled to make
her rotis round.
Round like the supermoon
that excited both the astronomer
and the lover,
round like the pizza
that is confusedly packed
in a square box.
After Sisyphean struggles
with round rotis,
she turned to paranthas
that can metamorphize into
squares or triangles.
They face no pressure
to inflate like balloons, or egos.
Size zero roti
with glowing complexion,
is forgotten when she serves
the stuffed parantha
Noone body shames it
or taunts its duskiness.
He asked for achar,
the parantha blushed with butter.
Rachna Sethi is Assistant Professor of English at Rajdhani College, University of Delhi. As an Associate at Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, she pursued research on urban narratives of Delhi. She has edited with A.L.Khanna Dialogues: English Studies in India (Aakar Books, Delhi, 2020). She is on the Editorial Board of Fortell Journal and has edited several issues of the same.
