# The First Book of Indlish Poems

- Link: https://writersworkshopindia.com/2022/09/07/the-first-book-of-indlish-poems/
- Published: 2022-09-07T20:06:38+00:00
- Author: shuktara

5/5 - (2 votes)

**Author: **Sheela Jaywant[⌊A sample cover of the book: black handloom sari with gold embossed nameplate and lettering for the title and author's name. The border of the sari lines the right hand margin of the cover.⌉](https://writersworkshopindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/The-First-Book-of-Indlish-Poems.jpeg)
**
Pages:** 68 **Year of Publication:** 2022 **Price:** Rs 250 **ISBN:** 978-81-956648-
3-2 (9788195664832)

_**About the Author**_
 Born and educated in Bombay (now Mumbai), Sheela Jaywant
works as Administrator of a group of small, private schools in Goa. Since 1983, 
her work has appeared in national newspapers and periodicals like _Reader’s Digest,
RHiME, Joao-Roque Literary Journal, Rediff.com, GOYA, _and_ Indian Quarterly_. She
wrote a twenty-year-long humour column for the _Navhind Times _and _Gomantak Times_
in Goa.

Her own books are _Quilted: Stories of Middle-Class India_, _Melting Moments: a 
collection of “middles’’_ and _The Liftman and Other Stories_. Her stories and essays
have also been published in anthologies that include _The Brave New World of Goan
Writing 2018_, _Indian Voices_, _Vanilla Desires_, _She Writes_, _Carnival_, _Railonama_
and _When They Spoke_. Her short fiction has won prizes at Desi Writers’ Lounge,
[toasted-cheese.com](http://toasted-cheese.com/) as well as Fundacao Oriente Short
Story Competition and Pallium India’s Best in Print Media Award.

With a grant from the Government of Goa, she compiled essays on the journeys of 
Goan writers, composed by themselves, in the book _From Mind to Keyboard_. Her Marathi
to English translations include _Ward No. 5, KEM_ and _A Life’s Journey: Opa, Goa
to Cleveland, USA_.

_**Teaser**_

_The Insides of Family Life, Middle-class Mumbai, 1960s_

My grandma in bed, in paralytic unhappiness.

My mother unable to leave her unattended.

The kind and affectionate servant who would take me

To the nearby beach, to play in sand, tell me

About the gods, my people and her family.

The next-door Lonkars, who taught me

To follow rules by keeping footwear outside their door.

Or the Hoskots, who kept me curious;

Their kitchen didn’t smell of fish and coconut oil.

Or the Iyers, who had six children,

One severely disabled, who we respectfully called “Dada”.

Or the _maali_’s family,

Who lived in a single room under the stairway,

Who cared for the building,

Who were cared for by the tenants.

I played _lagori, hututu_ and skipped on a naked road.

No cars were parked, none could afford them then.

I didn’t know who was Sequeira, who Levi, Shah or Sheikh.

Now I know.

That time our parents didn’t care much about

Who ate what or spoke which tongue.

If one grazed a knee, the closest adult

Gave a biscuit, patted the bottom and sent one off.

That Bombay has long gone.

_**Contents**_
 _Introduction_ / 9

The Insides of Family Life, Middle-class Mumbai, 1960s / 11
 Working Late with an
Office Mate / 12 The Annual Vacation to the ‘Native Place’, from Bombay to Palolem,
a Small Village in South Goa / 13 To Sell One’s Soul to a Corporate Goal / 14 Kace
to Case / 23 A Senior Citizen’s Lockdown in Verse / 26 Death on the Table / 28 Individual
Needs / 33 Inoculation Time / 35 The Fruit Juice Stall outside a Hospital / 37 A
Druck to Flavour a Sweet / 39 The Sweet Coconut Wadi / 40 Uses of a Sandwich-Toaster/
42 Konkani Curried Crabs / 44 A Meal in a Sandwich / 47 Queen of Rotis: the Purann-
pollee / 49 Rice Puris with Gravies / 52 This Is the Way We Make Duddpay Pohay /
54 We Call It Lucknowi Omelette / 55 A Glimpse into a Middle-class Neighbourhood,
Shivaji Park, Mumbai 1960s / 56 A Not-so-old Building, Mumbai No Longer Bombay, 
1990s / 57 My Four-legged Companion / 58 School, Locked Down / 59 Dear Phone / 60
This Is Why the Job Got Delayed / 62 Unseasonal Rain in Goa / 63 Who’s Wrong, Who’s
Not / 65