Reading Romantic Novels Poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar

Women of today aren’t women of yesterday.
A somersault has occurred in her way.
She has come out of man’s entanglement,
With her own earnings and own involvement.
Her mixing with men is very common;
To love at first sight has come uncommon.
No longing; no tryst; no more pining.
Many men around, she is a darling
Of all and not anyone’s belonging.
She tantalizes men around with a suspense.

Yet she hasn’t changed from her past woman
In one respect: she loves reading novels
Of romance where a prince finds on his way
A damsel in distress, whom he rescues
And subsequently falls in love with her.
Yes, she still finds interest in reading
Love scenes that ardent lovers would enact,
As an escape rout from the one that she leads,
And that involves a shallow intimacy
With men, who have no sense of commitment.

Reading romance is still a fantasy
02.08.2009.