YOU CAN’T CONFINE ME

I am a girl
Not a “thing” to quench your thirst
Not even a thing to “sell or buy”
That’s what I always said to those guys.

But since so many years you used me as a thing
Not ever have you treated me like a human being
Used me to let out your fume and for doing domestic chores
I do all that for you, yet I have to live a shorter life in a small-enclosed “cage”
And after a whole day of hard work, I get my meagre wage
I also know that’s just because I am not as “privileged” as YOU.
Even then, I keep you first
But you used me only to quench your thirst.
And that is why I cannot trust
I cannot trust my family, relatives and friends
Because they feel it’s all okay
After all, that’s what is “in trend.”

I also want to enjoy this big blue sky,
Like a bird, I want to spread my wings to fly
I will shine so brightly
So don’t take me lightly
Cut my wings if you dare
Never think I will spare.

Today, I am affirmative and confident to say,
That showing me down was the only thing you prayed.
Today I have tears of disgust, tears of anger and tears against oppression in my eyes
Just because you haven’t ever worried about my rights
Today I am in so much pain; I am ashamed, and anguished.
How are you not feeling this way?
When did forcing someone become a “culture”?

They say, “Don’t sit in this way”
“Fold your legs, don’t forget to maintain a gap”
“What are you doing? Don’t talk to that guy”
“When a family comes to see you as a marriage prospect, you give a sweet shy.”

I say–Mom, Dad and my dear society,
You restricted me to a variety of norms
So that I live on the boundary
But what is the advantage of giving birth?
If I have to live in a “closed curve”?

Girls, we have faced enough and it’s high time we take a stand
Enough of the society
Enough of the oppression
Enough of the maltreatment
And,
Enough of the inhumanity and the cruelty.
NOW is the time and we have to raise our voice for honesty, truth and compassion against injustice
So that in the future, no girl needs to stand up for her basic human rights in a country that is corrupted!

-Sakshi Sonu