Once upon a time,
Lost in the land of fairies,
There was a little girl,
Resting in the lap of her grandmother.
“Does everyone get a happily ever after?”
Curiosity beamed out of her,
Her grandmother’s voice turned an octave lower,
“Yes! Only if you know the secret way.”
Her grandmother continued in a conspiratorial whisper,
“It is the secret of the gol roti,
The one I shared with your mother,
Which some day she will share with you.”
An unsolved mystery can’t bear to wait,
Thus her feet led her to her mother the next day,
To uncover the secret that women held dear,
The secret of the gol roti.
Her mother started peeling off the layers,
According to her, it’s a concoction
Of caregiving, obedience and devotion,
Where flour is a start,
And a breadwinner by your side the end.
“It is symbolic of your sanskar,
It represents your family’s honour,
It is the recipe of a happy married life,
That is a measure of a woman’s good life.”
The little girl stood enamoured
With the beans spilled in front of her.
She promised to stand by these words,
And build a life as good as her mother’s.
Some years down the line,
When she walked around the holy fire,
She used the secret of the gol roti,
For a smooth sailing.
Little did she know,
That the gol roti was just a start,
Of the sacrifices she was forced to make,
Of her life being closed in a jar.
Now when she looks back,
She sees her life mirroring her mother’s,
Its hollowness a jarring revelation,
Because the secret of the gol roti ensured,
That he lived happily ever after.
Mrinalini Kumar is a post graduate in Political Science from University of Delhi who finds solace in expression.
Featured image credit: YouTube