A Sweater In The Summer

By Maahika Ajay Kumar

How she forces her cold shoulder up while she's walking alone,

how she only feels safe in the ladies coach.

How she always carries a jacket to wear while going back home.

People stand and stare while her eyes are moving fast.

She blames herself, "only if I had listened to mom and stayed home today",

she learnt it from the society around her who blames her for their mentality not being vast.

They'd talk about her clothes but what about a two month old in a diaper? A little life that had just been created.

What about the woman who thought she was safe because she was wearing a "burqa"?

People talk about clothes, while minds are naked.

Some even have the audacity to defend that their hormones are the reason,

these are the ones who cannot even control their own hormones but aspire to control the world.

They're the ones who are suffocating her in a sweater even in the summer season.

By Maahika Ajay Kumar