By Vishnupriya Srivastava
Your girl deals with harasser every day,
Some might be dealing while you are reading this today.
Oh she is too dark,
She is too fat or thin,
She is too loud to be a girl,
Bro she cannot be my wife, she is a girlfriend mater-ial.
These casual comments shaping our society faster,
And the other day she is not promoted because she is- dark skin or worse she is a mother.
We as a society, are born hypocrite,
Let me tell you, you might as well have spoken it,
Man up a bit, bro — you just got slapped by a gi--rlllllll,
What? You slapped a girl(?)
Gentlemen cook for their wife and children every day,
I wonder if your mothers are also mentioned the same way,
We get shaving kit, toilet paper, "All essentials" in a hotel,
But talking about her period pads? Those aren’t essentials yet.
Every girl is told of her body, at a tender age she couldn't withstand,
Her body is only meant to be seen by her husband,
Her hymen is sacred until she is a wife,
Her jeans, her tight thighs are what causing her trouble,
But marital rape is untroubled till this time.
Too much education makes her aloud,
Draupadi never learned war rules, was she even allowed?
Though she was born to change history but left as Kshtriya's wife, Kshtriya's daughter,
A warrior's wife but never a warrior.
I’ve heard that beauty lies in the eye of beholder,
I think it’s true for sexual assaulters too,
So a three year old is raped the same way, a twenty year older than her,
For 9-days, Durga is welcomed in our country as a deity who is armed, powerful & fierce,
But sadly, in those 9-nine days, my friend Durga is not allowed to meet Durga, if she is on her periods.
Imagine a girl at the of Thirteen,
Listening, you are too dark, too fat, too thin,
Nobody will want to marry you,
And I am not astound, if her life's very aim from that time is to get her a boy,
Who will want her, love her,
“Allow” her to work or at least respect her,
Because if she doesn't get one,
She will be tagged as "defective" or a whore.
In class Tenth, she was asked to tie her hair tight,
Not a single strand should be hanging outside,
Was asked to cut her nails short,
And salwar suits in schools were her only escort,
Because she was told skirts make her figure more visible,
And this not only “entice” or “distract” boys
But decides her whole damn character.
Now she is an adult & her heart is like a war-field, leaving marks and expectations
Your victory signs are still left on her body, you see she is weak?
Because her chest can be pumped-up but not her self-esteem,
Her voice can be thin, but waist has to be thinner,
Her hands can cook but not have food before everyone's dinner,
Her morals can be righteous but her virginity has to be virtuous,
Choosing her life partner, she is going against her family but getting her married to her rapist is fine in this country,
She can be friendly but not friendly enough to give a sign,
That she is interested or might be asking for it,
Her damaged career is fine but not her toxic marriage,
Her skin can be fair but asserting herself is disparaging,
She can question but only in bedroom,
She can be fucked but fucked only by her groom,
Because she is the reason for your fight,
And don’t forget, she is goddess and bitch at the same time.
With all these, she might have stepped back,
Because she was tired of being her own guard,
And hiding her pain, in a friendly façade,
Listening what she can do, what she can be,
Every day, every sec passing by,
So yes at times, she might have fallen,
For she can't risk not being polite,
Because for her, acid attack and rape victims are never forgotten.
Infront of more & more Nirbhaya you'll leave a sunflower,
Next day you say- बुरा हुआ and light candles for an hour,
Next month you forget their sin,
Next year you become numb and numb from within.
You see she doesn't do much now to save her pride,
Because sadly, she never has an option to do the ‘right’.
So here I’m, privileged enough to beg you,
Because maybe, you think over it, maybe a few(?)
And tell your sister, wife, girlfriend, mother, friend, maid, neighbour or colleague that it’s not their fault,
To know her own rights, at times she might need a push to break her own vault,
Tell her that she looks beautiful with hair on her body too,
And her life is more than to fit in society’s responsible & beautiful wife shoe,
Tell her to focus on her career and it’s fine to not be a mother at all,
The list will go on-and-on-and-on,
But I assure you that these might help her to run an extra mile in her daily marathon.