THINGS I IMAGINE TELLING MY NIECE

Unspool silken ribbons to make hair bands.

Paint your nails the deepest shade of red,

the colour of your wild heart. Let fish braids 

and TV serial hairdos be your day’s highlights. 

Gather dry leaves and petals to make organic 

gulaal. Lose sleep over the unicorn necklace 

your parents will allow you to wear to school 

on your birthday. Make friends With street dogs. 

Bring home a stray kitten and name it Stay. 

Turn up the volume on K-pop and dance like 

a dervish looped on a mantra. Make pancakes 

to inaugurate your parents’ anniversary. Sneak 

your pocket money into the purse of the cleaning 

lady, whose house might soon be bulldozed. 

Imagine the look on her face when she finds the 

new bill. Negotiate your round-the-corner teenage 

with parents, friends, teachers, aunts. Life. Stay 

up late in the night to read story books. Learn about 

the Mughals from comic books and documentaries; 

you might see them magically vanish from textbooks. 

Plan to be a singer-scientist-tennis player because

Hey, why not? Fight for screen time, find a confidante,

decorate hands with pre-Eid mehendi, gorge on Eid

Biryani, learn to find kindness interesting. 

You’re too young for hate, and the world is already full of pettiness.