Astro

by Shalini Singh

What if               I told you             I believe                                    astrology even after –

Even after all                                 my Brihat chart readings                            said that I will die

before I turn 8

That even                           after I did not die,                                                         I was still asking

God why

Why is it that                               the only guy                                                            I ever loved

was a manglik

And that he                                                    died when I                                           was

overcoming sade sati-

Why was it                                                                                                 that I was on the other side of

the country,

Where horoscopes were horror

For a non manglik                                                                                                                in love

with a manglik

That a Maha Mrityunjay

was never meant                                                                                                                        to

save me at one,

That feeding                                    800 brahmins                         when my own grandmother

went hungry

for days

Was not meant to be-

Was not                                                                                                                                                   

for me to live

Because                                                                                                                       I was dying,

like you, like all-

Every day- without a horoscope

Without                                          four readings every time                                                         I

was to decide

To live or to not-

To die