ShantaBeginner

एक स्त्री घर से निकलते हुए भी नहीं निकलती

Ek Stri Ghar Se Nikalate Hue Bhi Nahi Nikalti

2 min read 8 versesWomen Home

8 verses · ~2 min

एक स्त्री घर से निकलते हुए भी नहीं निकलती वह जब भी घर से निकलती है अपने साथ घर की पूरी खतौनी लेकर निकलती है

अचानक उसे याद आता है गैस का जलना दरवाज़े का खुला रहना नल का टपकना और दूध का दहकना

एक-एक कर वह पूछती है प्रेस तो बंद कर दिया था न! आँगन का दरवाज़ा तो लगा दिया था न! किचेन का सीधा वाला नल बंद करना तो नहीं भूली!

अरे! हाँ! वो सब्ज़ी वह मँहगी हरी पत्तियों वाली सब्ज़ी जो अभी कल ही तो लाई थी सटटी से प्लास्टिक से निकाल दिया था न!

हाँ, हाँ अरे सब तो ठीक है आपको ध्यान है आलमारी लाक करना तो नहीं भूली अभी कल की ही तो बात है महीनों को बचाए पैसे से नाक की कील ख़रीदी थी ।

इस तरह वह बार-बार याद करती और परेशान होती है कि दूध वाले को मना करना भूल गई कि बरतन वाली से कहना भूल गई कि उसे कल नहीं आना था कि पड़ोसिन को बता ही देना था कि कभी कभी मेरे घर को भी झाँक लिया करतीं ।

इस तरह एक स्त्री निकलती है घर से जैसे निकलना ही उसका होना है घर में ।

(25.09.2011)

इति

Rasa: Shanta
Stanzas: 8
Lines: 25
Reading time: ~2 min
Form: Free verse
Metre: free verse
Rhyme: none

The poem evokes a quiet, pervasive anxiety rooted in the inescapable mental burdens of domestic stewardship, manifesting a shanta rasa that is heavy with preoccupation rather than tranquility. A painting of this scene would show a woman physically crossing a threshold into the outside world, yet visually anchored to her interior by a spectral swarm of household tasks—a hissing gas burner, a dripping tap, unspooled vegetables, and an unlocked wardrobe guarding modest savings. This perpetual mental tether symbolizes the total conflation of a woman’s identity with her domestic domain, where her physical departure is merely an illusion because her consciousness remains perpetually trapped inside the walls of responsibility. The artistic tone is deeply poignant and observational, capturing the tragic-comic paradox of a domestic existence where leaving the house is functionally impossible because the home itself has become her permanent skin.

एक स्त्री घर से निकलते हुए भी नहीं निकलती (Ek Stri Ghar Se Nikalate Hue Bhi Nahi Nikalti), by Shriprakash Shukla runs to 25 lines across 8 stanzas, set as Free verse with irregular stanzas. Its governing rasa is Shanta, shaded by Karuna. The metre is free verse. Rhyme falls as none.

Read it for स्त्री के अस्तित्व और घर के बीच का गहरा संबंध, घरेलू जिम्मेदारियों का मानसिक बोझ and मध्यमवर्गीय स्त्री जीवन की सूक्ष्म चिंताएँ. 3 words in it carry older or regional senses, so the poem rewards a second pass.

The verse is hung beside Seated Lady: Bathed in a mood of quietude and soulful contemplation, the portrait depicts an Indian woman lost in a private world of thought as she pauses in a moment of repose. Her averted gaze and serene posture suggest an untold…

Words worth pausing on

खतौनी: भूमि या संपत्ति का ब्योरा रखने वाला रजिस्टर
दहकना: उबलना या गर्म होना
सट्टी: सब्जी मंडी या बाज़ार

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The Poet

श्रीप्रकाश शुक्ल

Shriprakash Shukla

Shriprakash Shukla is an eminent voice in contemporary Hindi literature who draws his creative energy directly from the cultural roots of rural India. Born in 1965 in the Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh, he serves as a professor at Banaras Hindu University. His poetry and critical essays stand as a powerful defense of local traditions against the homogenizing forces of modern globalization. Collections like Boli Baat and Ret Mein Aakritiyan showcase his deep understanding of ordinary people, their spoken dialects, and their everyday struggles. He does not write from a place of academic detachment. Instead, he approaches poetry with the sensitivity of someone who feels the pulse of the changing agrarian landscape. Honored with prestigious awards including the Naresh Mehta Samman and the Vijaydev Narayan Sahi Samman, Shukla writes to preserve the fading memories of rural life. He reminds readers that true literary beauty often resides in the unfiltered, unpolished realities of the village courtyard.