Purple today she wore

By Archana Mujumdar-Tambe

"A pretty picture she made,
in a snow white dress
Her tiara half slipping
on her curly golden tress
Dad in his best suit and
Mom all dressed up too,
smiling faces in a frame,
Nothing short of a trove!

To a primary school she went
In a blue uniform, daily sent
Books to read, games to play
Happy moments thus rolled away

Events too many attended,
in these tender years
With only her loving Parents
and without any fears
Her wardrobe always fully vibrant,
twas one exquisite killer
Filled with every kind of dress,
of her every favourite colour
Reds, Pinks and yellows to
Occasions she usually wore
Knowing she had many but
could always ask for more

Highschool and a brother came
Together in her Life
And also brought with them,
A reason for her strife,
Cos everyone after,
to her freedom put a stop,
Also to what she wished for,
or whatever she sought!

Don't do this, don't go there
Don't wear this, don't you dare
Too many donts now, obstructing her fare
She started worrying to herself, 'do they even care?'

Her carefree life before,
Now on a sudden pause
Her confused mind troubled,
trying to find its cause
Long gone was the time
as 'apple of every eye'
little brother took that place,
She dint even know the why!

Confused and helpless,
she just carried on forward
A bubbly girl now replaced by,
A teenager shy and awkward

School days soon over,
College days came on
Her life though fast paced
moved like an obstructed pawn,
Family and societal pressures
She kept feeling on her way,
Her logical arguments too,
always stopped halfway

If ever she put up a fight,
her point to make aware
And all she ever heard was
behave as a girl would,
and kindly beware'!

In Graduation and Masters,
she brought herself, honours
Corporates lined up to seek her,
with plenty of offers
Directly an Executive, in a Corporate,
now she worked,
For initiatives, efforts and hours put,
not once she even irked!

The colours in her Life too,
Now only grey, white, or black
Favourites Orange, blue and green
Had quietly hit the sack!

Finally dawned the day,
of her long awaited Promotion
And with it the expected,
'Gender and Leadership commotion'
Cos running for it were only these two
She was one, and a Man colleague too.
Though appraisal done,
was strongly in her favour
For her team of men, her Leadership,
was difficult to savour

To this day, Gender discrimination,
she had but quietly borne
Not this time though, no victim she would play,
Neither would she sit back and mourn

Cos in the recent times,
that she had worked here
She had not only become strong,
but also a woman without fear
Well made aware too, of the 'Women's Rights'
All prepared she was now to deal,
to take on her own fights

'Diversity Equality Inclusion', inspired her inner look
To her deserved place to be it pledged, whatever it took,
Win her position, she did, and to celebrate, called to the fore,
Proudly she walked to the podium, yes 'PURPLE' today she wore!"