It was only yesterday.
A bride scrubbed with turmeric to glow
an aura built up painstakingly
with colours of sunrise
to symbolise a golden future
It was only yesterday
a chirpy girl
wiped her hands off my sari
and ran in laughing with glee
I scolded her,
but smiled…
Naughty girl…
Who knew you’d grow up so soon?
The yellow ruffled frocks
changed to ornamental outfits
a peach blush on your cheeks
It is today…
You will leave us for your marital home
through that ornate yellow gate
in a marigold-covered car
leaving a trail of turmeric and vermilion
An album framed in precious gold
will be the centre of our life
while you visit like a guest,
pull out a handkerchief
from your yellow bag
ignoring the hand towel
I placed for you
with so much love..
Image Credit: Asialifestyle and Instagram
The reference is to a ceremony held a day before the wedding, where the bride is scrubbed with turmeric/milk/sandalwood for the bridal glow. The colour theme of the event is yellow, with decor, food and outfits.
Written for MTB : The Colour Motif
Creative Experiments and More 
This is lovely!
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Thanks so much!
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I really like the warm glow of this… fantistic bright color for a hopefully bright future.
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Thank you so much, Bjorn!
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Reena, this is tender yet strong, capturing ritual and transition, love and loss. It’s so honest, filled with respect for tradition and the hint of sorrow of a daughter leaving your side 🩷
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Thank you, Ange!
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such warmth in the colours and the love you have conjured here – beautiful!
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Thank you, Laura!
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This is a beautifully poignant and evocative poem. It captures the bittersweet heart of a parent watching their daughter transition from a child into a bride leaving home.
The contrast between “yesterday” and “today” powerfully emphasizes how swiftly this change feels. The specific, sensory details—the smell of turmeric, the yellow frocks, the marigold-covered car—ground the emotion in a rich cultural context. The most heartbreaking detail is the handkerchief from the yellow bag ignoring the hand towel, a silent, powerful symbol of the new, polite distance that will replace the intimate familiarity of family life. It’s a quiet lament for a loss wrapped in the celebration of a new beginning.
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You captured the essence so well, Srikanth! We are entering the wedding season and will witness many such scenarios soon.
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