Much before I was born, cocooned in my mother’s womb,
The society tried to kill me and bury me in an unmarked tomb.
I arrived in this beautiful world hoping to chase my own rainbows,
But was treated like a burden and made to suffer all kinds of blows.
At a tender age of five years, all chirpy, playful and carefree,
I was either married off or violated beneath a mute tree.
My brothers got better rights when it came to wealth and health,
Education was their privilege, mine to tend house and hearth.
When I was happy, carefree and sprightly at the age of sixteen,
I was brutalized by some booze and porn-addicted teens.
Out in the streets, I was hounded, teased, touched and groped,
Disrobed by eyes and leered at in thoughts – not the life I had hoped.
Caged always was I by the customs, rules and traditions of the society,
Held captive by precious stones and gold jewelry, devoid of any gaiety.
Dependent on a father, then a husband and then a son,
I always craved for freedom which I could never have won.
Prime enabler of progeny, I was shared, bartered, depraved and sold,
Killed in cold blood, family prestige I was mandated to uphold.
I spent my life multi-tasking and managing the entire family universe,
To give me due credit in my country’s GDP, economists were averse.
I was put on religious pedestals and worshipped with fervor,
Chased in my youth but later abandoned and entombed forever.
For someone’s momentary pleasure and a spot of weakness,
Blame was laid at my own doorstep; abused for my meekness.
Maimed by acid attacks, beaten black and blue and burnt alive,
Freedom to make choices invariably denied on my own life’s drive.
Lying awake each night, the untold misery and terror I continued to relive,
Those supposed to protect me in fact exploited me, difficult to believe.
For each brutality, my countrymen, alas, barked up the wrong tree,
They asked for tougher laws and went on a police-blaming spree.
The courts tried to help, but too little and too late,
The politicians were too busy chasing their own fate.
The media and movies gleefully always used me as a sex object,
TV soaps ignored the reality, my stereotype roles they still project.
Religious and spiritual gurus never raised their voice and let it pass,
Society never decided to look within and re-set its attitudinal compass.
However, each violation has left me stronger than before,
My body they might have crushed and bruised, not my soul.
O Creator, give me the courage to forgive those who have tormented me,
Let me be born a female in coming births, making me assert myself with glee.
Never shall I let males dominate me, even if it means facing death,
For equality between the sexes, I shall always fight till my last breath.
(Related Posts:
https://ashokbhatia.wordpress.com/2013/01/02/an-open-letter-to-damini
https://ashokbhatia.wordpress.com/2015/03/11/to-nirbhaya-the-fearless-a-daughter-of-india)
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