I wish I could tell you, dear daughter
That when the streets
are dark,
You could step out
without straitjackets of iron & steel
Or an eye-solder for
camouflage
To hide those curves
and curls
To save yourself from
the predators of the dark –
Who can turn bestial
from their men-halves!
To see a woman only in
her breasts and privates –
a budding girl too,
never gets out of that warp!
The malaise of the
male to subjugate the female
Through acts of abuse &
violence– violating the biological lineage –
The ‘XX' chromosome ever
an evolutionary disadvantage?
So how could I tell
you , dear girl –
Be comfortable in your
skin to bask in the sun
Feel free to bathe in
the slivers of the moonlight,
But I rant about the
modesty be in covered in layers of fabric
To let no roving eyes of
a man get a chance –
To feel ‘provoked' to commit that act of faceless shame!
If I could retell
those bed time stories of brave
princesses,
who dressed as men in the
battlefield
and yet wore and lived
behind an iron curtain
for, it was ever the feminine to
be domestic and demure, than be daring
So to tell you my dear
girl, it is this thought lurking
Of a misconceived male
who manifests as a monster
As a shadow of the
dark, to hunt and flesh out his bestial instincts
While he tears a
female apart –
The Nirbhayas
and Abhayas remain as stark reminders
Of our society's
gender polarities –
To remind you that as your
mother, dear girl
The sore need of my
prayer is – that you dance your life, nimble-footed
In the graceful lasya
of Shakti but be as ready to resurge in Shiv's Tandav nritya
To destroy every
demonic force that crosses your way!
