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Imagine what must be going through a mother's mind, if this is the kind of choice she makes? Who's to blame? Can anyone answer?
Imagine what must be going through a mother’s mind, if this is the kind of choice she makes? Who’s to blame? Can anyone answer?
It was easy, it was easy to listen to mother talk about father and her brother and her neighbour, to listen to her tell stories, of few men ruining lives and a handful of them, paying the price for the sins of their kind
It was easy, it was easy to see or rather, imagine their being, from beneath the armoured pallu of my worldly wise mother, I had enough stories to hear before witnessing and before becoming a storyteller myself
It was easy, it was supposed to be, I’d innocently assumed because- it would be long before I see them, the men and my ears were wise and full, and almost overflowing with stories, stories of men
And then I grew up, I don’t know when and the armoured pallu was gone as I draped myself in a same one with borders of ancestry zari and eternal pain and I was surprised because, it was not easy, not at all easy like I had presumed
For a ninety nine shoves and gropes I was only once tenderly touched, for every hundred and ninety nine slurs I was called out lovingly only twice, for every thousand times I was made to cry, I was only cried for when I was married off
And then I grew up, I don’t know when and before I knew I was spreading my pallu to shelter my little one, and talking about men, few men ruining lives and a handful of them, paying the price for the sins of their kind
This is not enough, my pallu said and I believed so I did what my mother should also have done, sheltered my little one… with my pallu, this time-round her neck, I wept and talked about men, one last time and one last time, my daughter gasped.
If you or anyone you know is feeling depressed or suicidal, here are some of the helplines available in India. Please call. Aasra, Mumbai: 022-27546669 Sneha, Chennai: 044-2464 0050 Lifeline, Kolkata: 033-2474 4704 Sahai, Bangalore: 080–25497777 Roshni, Hyderabad: 040-66202000, 040-66202001
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