A poem of Ratanbai- one of less known medieval period's gujarati poet

RATANBAI

(12th-14th century)

Ratanbai was a Gujarati bhakti poet of medieval  period.Unlike Meerabai (1498-1565) she did not belongs to royal background rather, she made her living at the spinning wheel. A rare example of our own feminist heritage...

My spinning wheel is dear to me, My sister

My spinning wheel is dear to me, my sister;

My household depends on it.

My husband married me and departed;

He went abroad to earn a living.

After twelve years he returned,

With a copper coin and a half;

He went to bathe in the Ganga,

Dropped the copper coin and a half.

Mother, father, father-in-law, mother-in-law,

One and all rejected us;

The spinning wheel was our savior,

To it we clung.

I paid off all my husband's debts

And over and above

Tying coin after coin in the corner of my sari

I earned a whole rupee.

Translated by Nita Ramaiya