Draupadi

-       Keki N.Daruwalla

The travails of Draupadi

are never-ending.

It seems— some people have it

in their bleeding stars:

first exploited by the Pandavas,

five to one,

then by the Kauravas,

hundred to one

and now by the feminists

in millions.

"Boat-ride along the Ganga", casts a

wry look at the contradictions that

abound in the life of a Hindu:

What plane of destiny have I arrived at

where corpse-fires and cooking-fires

burn side by side?