Chain Reaction | Karishma V.M

Kusuma bai sweeps, mops and scrubs
a smug smile on her dirt-stained face
Sweet thoughts run through her vacant head
the promise of good fortune, in a day’s pace
She thinks of Bholu, her ladla and good for nothing iklota beta
After hours of scolding, arguing and cajoling,
she had finally convinced him of her brilliant plot
foolproof it was, infallible, like power in the hands of a Neta
“Nobody will know and they will never suspect
By the time the police find out,
We’ll be far off with lots of money and some respect!”
With this happy thought, she hurries and makes kheer ready
when Madamji enters the kitchen,
studded rings on all her fingers
and a thick gold necklace, By God, so heavy!
Kusuma bai reports her day’s work dutifully
then calls it a day and goes home
Madamji receives sweets from the new neighbours
she thinks of Sethji, whose favourite it is
but too much sugar not good for him
So she keeps kheer in the fridge, for tomorrow, tonight Khaju burfi
Night comes slowly, like a black curtain coming down over the navy-blue sky
while the family goes to bed peacefully,
their heads empty of the day’s troubles
and their bellies full of roti, curry and delicious mithai
Bholu quietly creeps into the house
careful and stealthy (as a thief should be)
but stops to listen for the sound of pin that he has dropped
(confirming pin drop silence you see)
Sure that the household is fast asleep,
he sneaks towards the master bedroom
on the way, his tummy gives a loud protest
so he decides a meal from the fridge, will be quick and best
He finds the pot of kheer, and drinks it all happily
blissfully unaware that it would cost, his beloved mother dearly.
The next morning dawns, and with it a series of siren wails
adding to it is Kusuma’s chest beating,
head banging, hair pulling, heart wrenching sobs
The whole neighbourhood is around Sethji’s house
hushed whispers and murmurs do the quick rounds
while the family themselves stand aghast,
unable to process the scene before them
and that, it could have been their bodies
being carried away and wheeled out fast
A single thought keeps eating Kusuma bai’s brain
Where was the fault all along?
That stupid Shantha bhen had chosen that very day
to give those stupid Khaju burfis
And her perfect plan had gone horribly wrong!
So this is how it ended, a tragic tale
of greed, stupidity, rotten luck and human-made disaster
triggering a chain of events,
that led from one unfortunate thing,
to an unfortunate another.

Karishma V.M is presently working in a US Accounting firm. When she is not crunching numbers, she is devouring words. She loves reading crime fiction and writing poems about human nature. She resides in Mangaluru, a beautiful coastal city in Karnataka.