She

Its easy, isn’t it

to point a finger

to give blame

to appropriate shame

SHE must have done something to deserve it

and no, its not just rape or eve teasing

not the gravest deeds of them all

but the generation after generation of tradition

of the pain and blame game

that gets seeded and set forth into motion 

when the next wave reaches its shore

she forgets her desire to leave her in laws home

when she felt suffocated and crushed

by the force of the matriarch ruling the kitchen

and the law of the patriarchal code

she forgets her desire to have her own home

to decorate it as she would embellish herself

to adorn it to reflect her beauty

she forgets her shame when she was stared at

or forced to cover up, or whistled at, or followed in the early evening as she came back home from work

when she shames the girls that get eve teased on new years 

and proclaims the need to “lock them up and get them married quickly”

she forgets that she too was young, had dreams that were crushed,

had desires and ambition

when she forces the other women to give up their own 

only to become cows and mules to slave

waiting on with hands, legs, body and baited breath

for the appreciation of the men they serve

she forgets the first time when the her heart snapped and broke 

from the shock of the strike on her face

and mocks the rising from ek thappad

dismissing it as small occurrence in the big picture

she forgets she too was a woman

before she became a mother, a grandmother, a mother in law, a judge

she was the “aaj kal ki ladki” with red nail polish and a free spirit

before she became the keeper of the keys

that bind us with chains of dark history

only to be perpetuated until we come together

and save us all -  women - them, us, and those that are yet to come..