Trigger warning: Sexual assault
I am the girl with a gajra
who gets harassed in metros, buses, rickshaws and cabs
who cannot go out after it gets dark because some boy’s parents failed to raise their son sensibly
all he was taught was how to be macho and manly
and why he can walk out of his house, at any time of the day (and night), while his sister can’t.
I am the girl with a gajra
who reads in newspapers everyday about different ways of how rapes are attempted in a country where Goddesses are worshipped
by burning breasts and inserting rods in the vaginas of women
who knows in her heart, that nobody will be spared- neither the infant nor the 60-year-old aunt in her neighbourhood.
I am the girl with a gajra
who belongs to a household
where women are not allowed to enter temples while menstruating
and condoms and sanitary napkins arrive folded discreetly inside black bags
where physical attributes are utmost crucial and
mental health is just another facade.
I am the girl with a gajra
who wants people to unlearn the archaic definition of equality
and wants to wear a mini skirt with as much ease as she wears a saree
who wants to feel comfortable in her own skin and
and that girl, who just wants to read and write happy poems
knowing that
another rape poem won’t make any difference but is still hopeful,
of a better tomorrow.
Aastha Gupta hails from New Delhi and is a German language editor by profession. She has successfully co-authored more than five books in the past one year with various publishing houses. Apart from being a writer, she is a sucker for good poetry and theatre.
Featured image: Wikipedia