Whenever I draw a red ‘pottu’*
sometimes a timid dot,
sometimes a fearless sun,
with liquid Kumkum
just above my brows,
a conversation begins.
No ritual summons me
to do it,
no vow,
no decree inherited,
no reason I can nearly
fold into a sentence;
I simply do.
My ‘pottu’ has
journeyed centuries
from the primal ‘bindu’**
where creation is
said to spark,
to the quiet eye
resting between
the known and the infinite.
Whenever Vimala Valliamma ***
returns to memory
her oversized ‘pottu’
steals a glance first.
Round.
Unapologetically red.
It claimed the room
before she ever did.
Life had taken more
than it ever returned her,
yet she refused to go
muted or subtle.
She chose the centre,
just like her ‘pottu.’
Every morning
somewhere,
someone stands before a mirror,
draws a crimson circle,
and wears history on their forehead
that has outlived
fiefdoms and faiths
fashion and friction,
assumptions and interpretations.
Not all circles seek a meaning,
some simply teach us the grace of being.
- It is a traditional coloured dot worn on the centre of the forehead in South Asian cultures. It is also known as bindi.
**Primal Bindu is the symbolic first point of creation, the timeless centre from which life, energy, and consciousness begin.
***Aunt
#ash 30/6/26.
Dr Aswathy Aravindakshan is a teacher, bilingual writer and artist with over two decades of experience in teaching English language and literature. She currently serves as Assistant Professor of English at NSS College for Women, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. Her blog, ashlit.in brings together academic resources, creative writing in Malayalam and English, and visual art. The platform features lecture notes, study materials, poems, reflections, short prose, and a curated collection of her paintings. Through this space, she seeks to foster learning, creativity, and meaningful engagement with literature and the arts.
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