I Am Born A Girl [POEM]

Karaagre vasate lakshmi,

karamadhye saraswati,

karamoole stithe gauri,

prabhaate karadarshanam.

Oh father!

I hear you recite this every morning,

Before you open your eyes.

You look at your palms, turn around,

I see you flinch, as you look at me.

Annapoorne, sadaapoorne,

shankar, praanavallabhe,

gyaan vairagya siddhirtam,

bhikshaan deheecha paarvati.

Oh father!

I hear you recite this three times a day,

As mother serves your meal.

I see her wait as you finish your food

The hunger in her eyes for a full meal.

Saraswati namastubhyam,

varade kaamaroopini,

vidhya arambham karishyaami,

siddhir bhavatu me sadaa.

Oh father!

I hear you recite this every day,

As you set off to work.

I hover around you for a small hug,

But like a fly you flick me away.

Oh father!

We are both the same,

Born of the same womb.

Born a minute apart,

Yet his birth is a fortune,

While mine is the misfortune

He is the pride of your heart,

While I am the insult to your reputation.

My three year old eyes have not seen the world,

But they understand the irony.

My soul has not faced the world,

But it now knows…

That it resides in the body of a girl.

It is paradoxical how families in India that venerate female deities do not even wince at the rampant female infanticide in the country. A girl speaks up today.

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