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A poem about a woman's fight against marital abuse, violence and rape and also struggle for survival in a callous, patriarchal society.
A poem about a woman’s fight against marital abuse, violence and rape and also struggle for survival in a callous, patriarchal society.
Lost in her grim thoughts she plodded on, Plenty of nights already spent in mourn, Firm steps, bright, gleaming, resolute eyes Nimble fingers, but a confident head held high.
A dusty pavement, gravel dotted, a rickety table, Hot winds, under a blooming gulmohar tree With thin threads she anchored herself, without a tremble, Soon her old sewing machine got her, her first fee.
Just like Gandhiji’s three famous monkeys They had turned a deaf ear, a blind eye, A still tongue, they turned away with ease, Beaten black and blue, she let out a piercing cry, When her husband-the ‘pati parmeshwar’ Mauled her body, crushed her soul every night Made her bow down and cower, Set afire her dreams of a future bright.
He is your God, he’s your ‘swami’, What if he slaps you, he’s not barmy. Keep him happy, do not fight back and jeer, It’s a family matter, we will not interfere.
Banged and pushed against the wall She was repulsed, she was devastated, Ultimately she stood up and made the call They came, the ‘parmeshwar’ was arrested.
She’s so stupid, she’s such a duffer, For such petty things she had no tolerance, Let her now rot in hell, let her suffer, For her rebellion, there is no allowance. A lone woman, let’s see how she will live now, Without her man, she can’t survive, She raised her voice, she stooped so low, Let’s see how she will thrive!
Detested and despised for her impropriety, She was isolated by a callous society, That taunted and challenged her for low self-esteem, Till she broke the shackles, to assert herself and her dreams.
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Published here earlier.
Image source: By Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Curious about anything and everything. Proud to be born a woman. Spiritual, not religious. Blogger, author, poet, educator, counselor. 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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