By Supriya Javalgekar
First, sit comfortably on a white sofa --
no, a darker colour simply won’t do.
It must be at the home of a friend,
who is hopelessly in love with said sofa.
Second, choose an orange, very carefully --
not green and tender, or dry and shrivelled
but just the right shade of middling,
you want to know in advance it is going to be squirty.
Next, hold it in your palms, close to your heart,
shun the use of crockery or cutlery.
Real ladies peel oranges in their laps!
Make sure you wear your daintiest top
and bandhani pants that can only be dry-cleaned.
Then, look the orange in the eye.
Trust that it will never hurt you.
forget the laws of gravity, or that action
inevitably, has an equal and opposite reaction.
Now pry it open with both hands,
mustering every force.
Watch the rinds split, seeds
tear off at their core.
Watch citrus tears soar
into in the air, slo-mo
landing on --
the white sofa,
the dainty top,
the dry-clean pants
and yes, your friend's face.
Still, eat the orange anyway.
It is very likely very tasty.
The damage is already done,
and you still need your Vitamin C.
Later, forgive the orange for the mischief.
It should have been more careful, yes.
Apologise on its behalf, of course!
Turn orange-faced in embarrassment,
blame your child-like zest for life,
blame your brain for running out of juice.
Offer a piece as a peace offering
and hope that things don’t turn sour.
Supriya Javalgekar is an author, researcher and creative facilitator from Mumbai. Supriya draws upon story, theatre and art to cultivate nourishing spaces for self-exploration and dialogue. She currently lives in Amsterdam and is playing hard at improvised theatre. Discover more at www.supriyarakesh.com.
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