(Illustration by Anubhav Nagpal)
21st century, like horse of Troy
Birth of ‘her’, celebrated with joy
(Equal rights and opportunities)
No longer; treated like a toy (?)
Women, independent (!), fearless (?); going out
(Still molested, groped, felt) but they don’t shout
Choosing a path in life:
(‘Suggested’ by fathers, forced by husbands, spoken of by society and chained by ‘traditions’)
Proud? Look, how well equality is in rise.
Perfect equality, no discrimination,
Such a beautiful situation? A dream
Actually…. it is! With a lot hidden below,
How can milk be all about cream?
Halt imagination, look into the mirror.
When you see it; down your spine, is there a shiver?
How can you expect a girl to blend?
She’s being saved by a man is every story’s end.
We’re still the same-
The stereotypical, discriminating, prejudice filled society
Ignoring how half of us (47% as of 2011) are boiling…
Close to exploding with anxiety!
Like a snake, we just change skins
And those fools? The majority ‘makers’ consider it a win
Being the maker of these ‘makers’
Was probably my only sin.
She is like a storm of gunpowder-
Just about to turn into a blizzard of fire
All touching, poking, scratching fingers like matches
May from every cell of your skin, pierce my shards of fire
And may this fingers and brains be burnt down to black ashes
Brought up in the fire of Delhi
Long dead is my shyness, ablaze my weakness, cremated my fragility
But I won’t acquire a peaceful stability
Till I make filthy humans feel guilty
The scars crawling over me are not just on my skin
It pained, but now it angers me, those hideous grins
I want to stab! And not just slap those hungry mice eyes
Which shamelessly stare at me somewhere below my eyes?
I remember the places I’m touched with force
When men pushed me purposely (with a sorry) to feel me close.
You need to be sliced slowly till you begin to realize
And finally look in the mirror at the filthy rotting devil in disguise.
(Like an insect with shrieking cries
But alive to feel the pain! An inch from demise)
I’ll make you crush your head into the ground with shame
You will learn to pay respect to my name
Realize my superiority of power and then
Know I’m a form of Devi, I’m a woman.
– Anubhav Nagpal