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On the International Day Of The Girl Child, this beautiful poem charts a girl's journey from being born to becoming an adult!
On the International Day Of The Girl Child, this beautiful poem charts a girl’s journey from being born to becoming an adult!
The hard-hitting poem called ‘A Woman’s Monologue’ has emotional lines such as- ‘I grew up to be my father’s daughter/Very casually, I was given his surname/Why was my father given entitlement for my mother’s labour?’
‘And after so called ‘kanyadaan’/I was going to be my husband’s wife/I would be the one changing names/I would be the one swapping homes.’ Read the full poem below…
It started the day I came
Everyone was happy
But there wasn’t a celebration like the one when my brother was born
I grew up to be my father’s daughter
Very casually, I was given his surname
Now, when I am 18, I wonder
I wonder the reason behind it
Why was my father given entitlement for my mother’s labour?
Why is father’s name on every document mandatory
Then, I had a sudden epiphany
My basic identity was dependent on the males in my life
I was my father’s daughter
And after so called ‘kanyadaan’
I was going to be my husband’s wife
I would be the one changing names
I would be the one swapping homes
And if I dare wish to live separately with my husband
I would be a home-breaker
I am given equal right in property
But I am expected to relinquish it
I am free to work after marriage
Provided the in-laws approve of it
As a woman, it is natural that I be the one to sacrifice
When husband wants sex, it is expected that I oblige
Is marriage a license to rape?
Perhaps that’s why marital rape isn’t criminalised
I am so used to getting less,
That occasional equality makes me cry
I am the one raped, yet I am the one restricted
I am abused, my privacy violated
‘Not all men’, they answer in collective
Its high time you change your perspective
I know it feels uncomfortable
To have less, when all this time you had more
But it’s not just about me,
You know, equality is mutual!
Image source: Still from Nil Battey Sannata
A Law student, content writer, sometimes poet, and an all time reader trying to find solace in literature. 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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