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A poignant poem that takes its unfortunate inspiration from the Kathua rape and murder of an 8 year old. Do read.
Trigger alert: This post contains descriptions of violence that could be disturbing for some readers.
A mom’s heart Sat beside her little girl’s Fresh grave Trying to moisten the soil With tears of blood She asked-
“Tell me little girl Tell me your pain!” The little girl answered- “Dear mom, tell me first honestly Didn’t you too secretly want a son? Was I born in vain?”
The mom’s heart sighed And with more tears replied- “Yes I did little one, because I too was a little girl here once, I knew what they do to you If you are born as a burden Often wombs are tombs For unborn girls, sigh!”
“So then why did you have me?”
“Well little girl I did because I hoped Things would change and improve
You will work and study And will have a lot to prove For yourself, me and my mom And all the women before you Who this world forgot.”
“Yes mom, I was trying But why didn’t you tell me They could take me anytime And do things to me That hurt, not just my tiny body But things that bruised even my heart! And I didn’t understand why, why! They were tearing me apart Like a lifeless toy I didn’t know that soon I was about to die I couldn’t even shout or loudly cry But could you ask the world mamma For me why? Why?”
The mother’s heart mourned And turned into the headstone Of the grave of the little girl Mutilated and sacrificed Brutally left alone to die! The headstone read- “A step at a time”
Each little flame of life You snubbed out in its prime Will now become a fire May their curses combine! Patriarchal monsters You will pay for your crimes You may politicise, hide or pray Soon it will be your judgement day!
This story had been shortlisted for the April 2018 Muse of the Month, but not among the top 5 winners.
Image source: pixabay
Pooja Priyamvada is an author, columnist, translator, online content & Social Media consultant, and poet. An awarded bi-lingual blogger she is a trained psychological/mental health first aider, mindfulness & grief facilitator, emotional wellness trainer, reflective read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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