Done Going Native

I eat with my hands

when there’s no spoon or fork

The pavement’s a sewer

so the road’s where I walk

I ask bus conductors

to shout out my stop

I don’t go in taxis,

in markets I shop.

I bum-wipe with water

it feels way more fresh

I know my Madhya

from Andra Pradesh

I listen to Rahman

On cheap MP3s

a sari’s extreme

but I’m shalwar cameez

I dodge wearing bindi

and henna and stuff

I’m through speaking Hindi

I’m done, had enough