Mother Tongue Blues Poem by SABREEN AHMED

Mother Tongue Blues
A human, a woman,
a netizen of India,
A native axomiya
-a goriya or 'miya',
a deshi,
jolha or a baganiya
I am all in
flesh and blood one
yet i deeply crib
when one asks---
what is my
mother tongue?
I blast out at
the computer operator
at the Nrc
hearing centre
who is rude to my
septagenerian father
and uncle
and repeats---
what is our
mother tongue?
He has never
heard of the
term 'Axomiya Mosolman'.
I was enraged,
but he was just
doing his job,
yet why i crib
when one asks---
What is my
mother tongue?
The lockdown
did no better
Those who couldn't
spit on the streets
Spat venom on
their screens
Some sane,
some insane
and some obscene
Yet all in flesh
and blood one
And still I crib
when one asks---
What is my
mother tongue?