Teesta Review: A Journal of Poetry, Volume 9, Number 1. May 2026. ISSN: 2581-7094
What We Did When the Fever Stayed
--- Mayuri Saikia
I returned home for Bohag Bihu trading the congested
streets of Guwahati
for the tranquil bamboo groves of my village.
The house felt altered, no one spoke of
-husori, keteki, jetuka or egg fighting
only of storm clouds, how it lingered,
how it would not leave.
My mother came home from her mother’s house carrying a
pouch full of mustard seeds,
an iron knife and my new brother.
My father laughed, “You are Bordoisila again,”
and she turned her face away.
Now she moves room to room singing nisukoni geets,
a burning baby in her lap.
Before my mother went home for childbirth, my Aaita
chewing
tamul pan freshly prepared in her khundona warned her,
“Don’t go to your natal home on Amavasya, Pratipad,
Purnima days.”
“Beware of Khetors and Jokhinis,”
“Don’t keep your hair open.”
Now her saying “Sabdhanor maran nai” feels different.
My Aaita, the village bez said fevers do not come
alone.
The day is set- not a Tuesday, not a Saturday
but a Monday for Ainam.
“The Pox Goddess must be appeased!”
I told my mother the town doctor must be brought
immediately
but she hushed me.
The Monday morning began with a crow cawing, my Aaita
looked pleased.
My father came back planting a siju tree in his paddy
field.
My mother held the child closer.
My sister didn’t touch her maku and tator haal.
“Will you remember this skill once you leave for
college? I had asked her.
She did not answer.
Now the women gather at our courtyard, I close the
gates myself.
Nobody ate jolpan.
“Seven sisters come to the home of the poor
And we have nothing to offer…”
Bring aari, gamusa, tamul pan, flowers, rice, incense
sticks;
I did not believe her but when she told me to hold the
dhuna
I did.
By evening the fever lessened or we wanted to believe
that
“O’ Ai Bhagawati O’ Sitala thank you for looking upon
us,” my Aaita cried.
By night
she was already telling someone
what must be done
if it happens again
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bio:
Mayuri Saikia has
completed her graduation and post graduation in English Literature from University of Delhi and is currently working as an
Assistant Professor of English in Assam. She loves to write poetry and fiction
along with teaching.
****************