The Indian Woman

a poem by Vidhya Jayarama Raja

Oh! its a girl
Were your first greetings
Your smiles and clothes charmed many
But a little sign of anger, stubborness
Was not yours to be
For you were a girl.
Created equal
Treated unequal
Study, play you could
All within limits
Career chosen
Not by brains
For you were a maid to be handed over
To play second fiddle
In a new environment
Blossom you have to
Adjust you have to
But think you shouldn’t
For you are a woman
Human you are
But always a woman first
Under man
Each step a death
Yet each step a Phoenix
For the world rests on you
The mother, the wife, the daughter.