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She Just Isn't Smart Enough

by Preethi Warrier
(Mumbai, India)

She wasn’t ever the geeky type, home science fascinated her.
She was the perfect homely girl, a happy marriage awaited her.
Today she cooks, she cleans, she paints, she knits,
She tends to her husband and both her kids.
She is their pillar of strength when the going gets tough,
But the relatives commiserate, she doesn’t work, she is a housewife,
Oh no, she just isn’t smart enough.

She was bashful, short dresses and loud parties were not her scene.
She wore bindi, salwar and long hair, she was raised traditional I mean.
She is proficient in her job now, beauty and brains combined,
She doesn’t speak much, her colleagues find her gentle and kind.
She doesn’t visit parlours, hates the late night stuff,
But boys her age label her BEHENJI, she doesn’t mix, she doesn’t socialize,
Oh no, she just isn’t smart enough.

She had always been loud and cheery, an instant hit with her classmates.
She could light up a gloomy day, a rock star, fan of DIRE STRAITS.
In college now, she is gregarious and parties hard with friends,
She is a fashionista, wears her makeup right and dons the latest trends.
Young men swoon over her, take her for romantic fluff,
But neighbours gossip, she cuts classes, doesn’t get marks,
Oh no, she just isn’t smart enough.

She was always focussed on studies, cleaning and cooking not her cup of tea.
She cracked her exams and interviews, forever the winner she wanted to be.
She is now a career woman, a pride of the working women fraternity,
She is independent, she juggles work and family, she is an epitome of modernity.
She takes all in her stride, even if she hits weather rough,
But the in-laws complain, not she, but her BAI manages the house,
Oh no, she just isn’t smart enough.

I enjoy doing up my house, I am a homemaker ,a hands-on mom.
I am a Plain Jane alright, I am conventional, is makeup some kind of a norm?
I am what you call a party animal, I love fashion, I sing, I dance, I make my life merrier,
I care for my husband and kids, I outsource the household chores, so can’t I have a career?

So all dear men, family and friends, I hope it’s loud and clear,
You might call me lazy, plain, dumb, arrogant, I don’t have to prove anybody here.
I know I am smart and I just don’t care, say whatever you wish to say,
Because at the end of the day, it’s my life and I live it, my way.