October Dolls
For Jk Mansi
If I asked you to imagine dolls in October, what is the image that comes to mind?
(a) murderous dolls stalking you with eyes borrowed from the depth of Hell
(b) lots of snack food, classical music and a very sedate, civilised, sit-down get-together
If you chose “a”, you’ve been infected with Halloween madness.
If you chose “b”, you’re a South Indian*.
For those who chose “a” — hold tight. October’s almost over. And anyway, dolls are not scary. Look how many we keep arranged in our house and we swear, none of them has ever tried to murder anyone. I mean, after being bathed in such warm yellow light (not excluding our patented humid heat — available all seasons, no extra charge), anyone’d be too sluggish to move, won’t they? Maybe we just need to change the lighting and add more comfortable loungeable places for your dolls too…and then, only the clowns would be left…only blank red-smeared grins, dripping…
*This arrangement called Golu is part of a ten-day festival called Dusshera and it shows scenes from mythology or daily life. Gatherings of friends and family happen in the evenings and during this time, stories, songs or shlokas are sung/narrated.
Not that Wikipedia’s the best source, but this one’s mostly okay, so here’s the link — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golu
© Indira Reddy 2019
