I Am A Woman, Bold and Free

Born into a web of contradictions and hypocrisy
I struggle to fit in but even more to stand out.

I am a woman, bold and free

Yet longing for liberation from you, your rustic notions and all that lot. 

You talk about equality of sexes and yet

You use the term ‘weaker sex’ to mention my kind.

You speak for hours about feminism but somehow forget

It all when the time comes and then cowardly you lurk behind.

You urge me to do what I feel like but brusquely

You lay out a long list of do’s and don’ts

You are incomprehensible and so is your audacity

Be free but on terms set by you? Oh no, I won't! 

It isn't easy to walk around feeling your stare from behind

I could be fifteen or fifty 

And you'd still ogle in ways relentless and unkind

I long to walk unperturbed for once, don't you see? 

You blabber on about modest clothing. You and your lies!

I could be wearing a burqa

And you’d still strip me naked with your bare eyes

Protective gaze, you call it. I know it's lust in disguise.

I could put on a mini skirt, if I choose, and invite

Silent judgment in your lingering stares

Whore, slut and tags of the like

And other lethal remarks in your endless whispers.

Life in this inferno, how should I survive

When even Gods abandon me for 7 days every month?

To stay unbruised, to somehow stay alive

Is my daily strife and it’ll never end.

But if one day I should fall, I know you won’t be vile

I know you will, in humanity’s name

Honour me with a black dot on your virtual profile

Write solemn prayers, light candles and share my pain.

And a few days later, you will, in my honour

Preach those lessons to every other woman you know

Moral code, guidelines for safety- to help her survive better

And your judgment and contempt will never end somehow.

 I am a woman, bold and free

Entitled to rights as you are, for I'm no different from you

I am a human, with desires and a will to be

I hope one day you will learn it too.

Picture Courtesy- The brilliant artist (and my great friend), Rajat S Kumar. (https://www.facebook.com/rajats.kumar.7?fref=ts)