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Being a woman means having to put up a fight each day - for safety, dignity, and respect. Here's a poem about the life and battles of a woman.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/thelotuscarroll/9382051638
Being a woman means having to put up a fight each day – for safety, dignity, and respect. Here’s a poem about the life and battles of a woman.
I hear people around me.
I can’t see them yet.
I would be able to see them once I am born
I am inside my mother now
I already love her
She talks to me every now and then
Softly, sweetly, she even shares her dreams with me
I think it’s time now
I see people around me
They say I am a girl
My mother is happy to see me
My parents love me a lot
I can walk now
I like running around
I like playing hide and seek
My mom says not to venture out too far
So I play around my house
I like my school
Now I am a big girl
I made some friends
Time just flies with school and all the play
Mom spoke to me today
She explained something called periods
she says it’s when blood comes out of me without me being hurt
she says it’s normal
every woman has it
she even gifted me my first brassiere
I am a teenager now
I love to play outside
I go cycling and running
I have a lot of friends
I notice something these days
People look at me in a weird way
They don’t look at my face
They look at my breasts
Mom says breasts are a part of every girl
Why do people look at me like that?
I don’t go out to play everyday now
I don’t like people staring at me
I see some changes in me
Boys have started paying attention to me
I like growing up
But I miss playing every day
The other day I went shopping with mumma
Someone pinched me from behind
I turned to see but couldn’t because of the crowd
I asked my mother why would any one do that?
She says it’s because some people think bad things when they see a girl
She asked me to be more careful
Now I know about good touch and bad touch
I am afraid to go to the market now
I don’t like crowded places
I feel people poking their elbows in my chest and brushing their hands over my behind
I don’t like going out alone
I am crossing a road now
Someone pulled my scarf away
Why did they do that?
I asked my mother again
She says not all the people in the world are good
I don’t take secluded routes
I don’t stay out till late with my friends
I miss running
The running tracks are not safe in the mornings
I want to go camping
But I read in the news that’s not safe either
I am a grown woman now
my freedom has boundaries
can I call it freedom?
I can’t wear shorts or skirts and go out
I see people staring, passing remarks
Every morning I stand in front of my cupboard and stare at all the things I cannot wear
I miss being a part of my mother
I miss my small safe world with her
I miss being safe no matter what
I have to fight my way through
That’s what momma says
And fighting I am
For the rest of the days…
Pic credit: thelotuscaroll (Used under a CC license)
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
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