
Nine yards of fabric
Around a petite frame
Valour personified, violence vindicated
As she steps up to slay monsters
Red becomes her, the Goddess compels
All to respect, to accept and bow
To power of the feminine
Raw are wounds on her soul
Instilling fear, inspiring awe, as blood oozes….
Note: A nine-day long festival Navaratri (Nav- nine, ratri- nights) to worship Goddess Durga ends tomorrow. There have been no celebrations this year other than worship rituals in some homes, in the lock-in conditions. But the red theme took me here.
Yes, the traditional color for the North Indian bride is red, though modern brides are adopting different colors. The vermilion on the forehead, red lips (betel-stained in the pre-lipstick era) , red henna on hands all carried the theme of passion and fertility. Sharing a pic here…

On a topical note, I wonder how corona virus memes and pictures are all swathed in red – the color of danger, the color of fear, the color of blood-baths in the stock market, the signal to ‘STOP’ ravaging the green earth …
Well Done…
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Thanks a lot! I like the red in your profile pic 🙂
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I can see how Durga and red go together. It looks like we are all in some kind of lock-in.
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Yes. I would like to see a list of countries totally unaffected by the scare.
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You always further my knowledge of Indian culture Reena. The piece on the colour red is interesting because I had posted a take on this colour from one of Edgar Allen Poe stories as follows, if you’re interested in reading it. Kind of topical to today’s events:
https://wordpress.com/block-editor/post/lensdiary.blog/1370
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Thank you, Len! The link takes me to my own block editor. Guess I have to wait till you publish it.
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Red, the colour of the power of the feminine. I love this. And I find the image of the corona virus as scary as it is deadly. Yikes.
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Thank you, Sherry!
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Love this–the poem and the info. Stay safe!
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Thank you, Tina! May you stay strong in difficult times!
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Reena – this is such a perfect response to the prompt. Thank you for this North Indian take on red, and your little journey into the cultural significance. It’s such a strong colour, it’s good to see it associated with feminine strength and beauty. Durga must have been prodding me a bit.
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Thank you, Sarah 🙂
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