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10

Poetry

I was told that...

Jayalaxmi Nair

I was told that
Women are naturally stoic
It is God’s special gift
And that, menstrual cramps
Or the bone-breaking labour
Are nothing to say the least

“Does being callously violated count?”
My father was out of his depth while
Mother was tight-lipped but tongue-tied
As I had asked so over the dining table
One enlightened night…
Because I know someone
Who cried herself to sleep
After being groped by her classmate
During a science class in the laboratory
I know someone
Who leaped off the terrace
After being barbarically assaulted by a co-worker
Whose ego met a blow upon a polite rejection
I know someone
Who was set ablaze and charred to death
By her scavenger of an in-laws
Because she couldn’t manage enough dowry

I was never answered
And we never spoke on it again
That night I went to sleep
Believing what my mother said
But with a twist of course:
Women are but obviously stoic
Because it is the only polite way
That offered in lip-service
To describe the warped agenda—
‘Suffer in silence and solitude’

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