Pack Up Poem by Prathibha Nandakumar

Just one more shot and
then pack up

Camera, lights, reflector
all go into the respective boxes
Make up man has already cleaned for the day
Unit van is waiting to dropp us all.
The junior artists are counting the money

After washing the dark koel drawn eyes
cream my face remove the grease paint
get rid of the elaborate sharara and the
traditional heavy jewelry and tons of jasmine in the hair
slipping out the glass angles, one or two cracks
continuity man moans

Get into jeans and a halter neck
finally feel free
and tired.

Van full of talks and giggles
some mention cold beer
someoneelse warns of morning shoot

What happened to all the emotions
caught through out the day?
In reels and made immortal
sitting snug in the boxes
when do they come out in the open again?
Are they real or make believe?
The heart jerking tear at the command,
did glycerin cause it?

Who commands 'action'
when she stands atop the cliff
looking down the deep, long, turbulent river
that she had to swim alone?

The director calls
'This is Um Rao Jaan's best poem,
we will shoot it in the morning,
'in this pretext I saw life'
wonder what she meant? ! '


Translated from Kannada by the poet.