Womens' Day

By Purvi Rathod

You do not deserve to be run over everytime you go for a walk.

No eyes are entitled to be gawking at you. No eyes should strip you of your dignity.

Your “modesty”, as they say, must be something important as they put it in such a prestigious place.

Be modest but do not smile too often on the streets when you see your friends. He might take a hint.

You do not need to be friendly with that man who waited twenty minutes outside the café for your friend to leave. He probably stalked you before that too.

You do not need to have male friends to protect you. You do not need female friends to protect you from the male ones.

You do not deserve to hide your straps and stains everytime someone points them out.

You do not deserve a blood red lip or a black eye to look beautiful.

You do not deserve the voices gossiping about your thighs or your bones.

You should not need to protect your body against predators who see nothing but meat.

You do not deserve to be scared in every dark place.

You do not deserve to have a sky full of self-defense tactics for you to go out.

That compact staff that you carry? That should not be used by you.

You should not be punished for being born and you should not be guarded by watchdogs who will lynch at you the first chance they get.

You do not deserve to be controlled and boxed and labelled and rated and under-rated and uprooted and degraded by anyone.

You do not deserve this. You deserve a breath. A life. A freedom that goes beyond norms and nonsenses.

You deserve a post-apocalyptic war that could value your existence even if it meant all else burned out.

You deserve to live you.

By Purvi Rathod