Innovations At Home Poem by Daniel Trevelyn Joseph

Soon after marriage, we lived in Gadhinglaj
Where Marathi was spoken, and Tilaka didnt know.
While I was away in office, she would write
A short story in Tamil, with nom de plume 'Joti'.

When a daughter was born unto us,
She was baptized, and called Joti
And all her teachers corrected spelling!
Explained it is not derived from Sanskrit.

Early morning, it was never tea but coffee
And she said, 'We'll make it sweet'
And for decades, we drank morning coffee
After both first sipped from the other's!

In our first home, as we finished our measl,
We'd go to the washbasin, and she'd say,
'I dont know how to wash my hands', and I
Would take her hand under the pipe, and wash!

When it was rare to see women driving in India
In rural areas, she would drive my official jeep
Painted blue, on long roads, and while driving,
Sing my choice of old Tamil film songs happily.

These and such innovations made our early home
A pleasure den in those years. We lived this life
In Maharashtra - Gadhinglaj, Kolhapur, Bhir
Satara, always free from relatives and restraints.