Resident Alien
Poem by Ankit Raj Ojha: ‘North Indian colleagues treat me as equal, / yet the demeaning bhaiye surfaces often / when they speak of Biharis not me.’
It’s chhole bhature in Delhi;
in Bihar, chhola bhatura.
Tongues are class-conscious:
plural flaunts affluence;
singular admits dearth.
*
North Indian colleagues treat me as equal,
yet the demeaning bhaiye surfaces often
when they speak of Biharis not me.
Thank heavens for the validation
that I am not their typical Bihari.
*
My friend, the charming host,
demands a public confession
that I eat rice with my hands
like Biharis do.
I return the favour reminding how
his old-timers used bare hands
before Kanedda shoved
a spoon in his pantry.
***
Ankit Raj Ojha is an assistant professor of English with the Department of Higher Education, Haryana. A former engineer and rock band frontman from Chhapra, Bihar, he has a PhD in literature from IIT Roorkee. He is the author of Pinpricks (Hawakal, 2022), and is winner of the Briefly Think Essay Prize 2023. His writings are published/forthcoming in twelve countries, including Poetry Wales, Routledge, Johns Hopkins University Press, Indian Literature (Sahitya Akademi), Outlook India, Dreich etc. Ankit edits The Hooghly Review, is guest editor at Essence & Critique: Journal of Literature and Drama Studies (Bingöl University, Turkey), and is a consulting editor with Routledge. You can find him on Twitter: @ankit_raj01 and Instagram: @ankitrajojha1.
