Rudaali. 22.04.2020

R for Rudaali

I sit at a strange place

It is neither inside

Nor outside the home

I hang my head in shame

For I am the untouchable

Whose body was ravished

While the soul soared

I am neither a wife

Nor a whore to speak of

I am that secret that

Everyone knows

But will not talk about

My lover’s body is being made ready 

For the last rites - to cremate

Only I will not see him

For one last time

Because I am the untouchable

But mind you when I cry

It will drown your safe world away

But It will also wash away your sins

Rudaali is a sort of clan in the state of Rajasthan in India - women mourners. When they hear the news of death nearby, they reach the home of the deceased and start to cry. They are professional mourners paid to make the family's grief appear more real. Also, their collective wailing sounds off nearby that a death has occurred.