By Tejaswini MB
Temples bells jangle in the distance
As the hospital fills with her first cries
For all they prayed, devotion immense
Their smiles don’t quite reach their eyes
Almost like the baby is punished for her mere existence.
They light lamps for goddess Lakshmi,
They pray devoutly for wealth and prosperity,
But they extinguish the light of her dreams,
Attach her meaning to marriage, trade her like property,
Her chains weigh her down while she goes unseen.
Decorated like Parvati, the divine mother,
She is adorned with anklets and bangles
Their jingles replace the sound of her laughter
With wings cut off, they bind her like manacles
Within the very home she built, one that became her border.
We pray for Durga’s strength and courage
But we train our daughters to cower in fear,
We’re born of her blood, until she reaches the age
Where the very same body is decreed impure
While lustful eyes lay claim to the keys of her golden cage.
Saraswati is praised for her wisdom and grace
And yet, her Veena plays songs of old
Of girls whose uniforms were folded away
To be a good wife, to do as they were told,Their stories erased before they even learnt to write their name.
Now we pray to Kali, with all our might and fury,
While they prey on the goddesses they revere
The hypocrisy continues as we seethe
And hope for a world that is more sincere,
Where the goddess we worship can finally breathe.
