She Worships Her Husband Like This

She worships her husband
Like this:
They wash and perfume themselves,
And sit in front of each other
on a platform smeared with cow-dung.

He is in his thong,
She in her finest dress.
She circles several times,
Around his head

A silver plate full of
Several condiments and
Burning incense. She sips
Water as she chants

That she does not understand--
Some mumbo-jumbo of
An ancient tongue
Of an ancient land.

Then she sprays water on herself
Like this

She pinches her nose
As if she were to sneeze,
While reciting mantras
Like spring breeze.

She continues reciting
Mantras and after mantras
Like this

She tells her hubby
To sit cross legged
On a wooded plank
And pours water on his feet

Pours water into his cupped hands,
Tilting his head backwards
Pours water in his mouth,
Gives him a kurta and dhoti.

Then she pours honey, butter
Yogurt all stirred in milk
And coconut water
On his head like this.

She follows pouring a bucket
Of water on his head.
Now all wet, he gets
Another kurta and dhoti.

Further mumbo-jumbo
Now accompanied by
Throwing flowers on
His organs from toes to head.

Now she calls him
By his one-hundred-eight names.
Like this,
Like this.

More mantras,
Three time again clockwise
Circling a silver-plate around his head
And then bowing before him.


She shows him an umbrella
She fans him,
She sings and dances
To please him.

She leads him to be seated
On a swing, on a pony
On an elephant and reads
Texts of fortune to him.


All incense burnt,
All elixirs poured,
All names called,
All Gods invoked

She rushes to the kitchen
Hungry, tired, loved, admired,
To eat fruits and sweets
To her heart’s desire.

All worship done,
All beliefs followed,
Generation to generation
Like this.

Note: This is a husband-worship day ceremony
still practiced in some rural parts of India
once a year.