Eve- Of The West And The East Poem by Valsa George

Eve- Of The West And The East

Rating: 5.0


East or west, women are stressed
Concede it or not, they are beguiled n' oppressed

Women everywhere have hang ups
But often thrive on cover ups
Complex is their mental make up
Excuses come to them tacitly made up

Inscrutable are their ways
None can, their actions, appraise
With intuition, they do amaze
But are often duped by praise

An enigma, they often remain
To suit to the need they may feign
It is hard for them to take strain
In the eyes of men, they are vain

With such common traits, as they fare
Women widely differ in the West and the East

Bold and fearless is the lady of the West
There she is almost on par with men
In a ball room she can sing and dance
Even after sundown she roams round
She can sprawl on the beach
And ski on the Blues
She is well coiffed
Has cherry red lips and glossy face
In parties, her flowing frock sweeps the rugs
Diamonds flash in her ear lobes
They adorn her neck and fingers
But Alas! Often is seen with eyes sad
Spirits low and face drawn
No smile lights her lips
While revelers sing and dance
She looks eternally glum
For her, future is far from promising
With relentless insecurity shrouding

What is it that nags her?
What steals her inner calm?
A stark desertion, she fears by her lover/ companion
As beauty fades and age withers
She dreads the absence of children near
To relieve her of her drab existence

For women of the East
It has been far tougher for centuries
Here a girl struggles to be born
The mother’s womb can be her sepulcher
Once born, no guarantee for survival
Fate like a haunting falcon
With claws sharp and eyes intent
Targets and preys on her
Like a piece of organic garbage,
Unscrupulous hands may hurl her to the bin
Or bundled and cast on railway tracks
Or discarded on crowded platforms
If she out lives this
Still vultures may circle round
To feed on her flesh, raw and red

No oracle or miracle
Could ever change her life
None knows what awaits her
Despite these daunting odds
She grabs life’s better moments
Raise happy kids
Keep the family intact
Stick to the wedlock
Be it a loop or a lock
Like a balanced acrobat
She does the tight rope walk
For the storms that rage without,
To her, is less insidious.
Never is she tossed by the unseasonal blizzards

For she is born in fire
And can easily brave the burning heat!

POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
Inspired by an article, recently read! This may be a sweeping generalisation and may be a little of an exaggeration, but holds much truth! I know there are exceptions in plenty! Hope it won't hurt anybody!
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
David Wood 07 June 2013

A real contrast of cultures but never the less very true words. Each one of us can be the instrument of change, as poets we can get our work printed for others to read who are in a position to change things. A Good poem Valsa.

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Valerie Dohren 07 June 2013

There are few cultures which haven't suppressed women to some extent, some more than others, but suppressed they have been and continue to be one way or another. An interesting and thought-provoking write Valsa.

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Chandra Thiagarajan 08 June 2013

Just inspired by an article how well you have compared the Eve of the West and that of the East! Each line speaks volumes and I have no words to describe the emotions filled in the poem.Simply GREAT & MARVELLOUS!

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Tajudeen Shah 08 June 2013

Dear Poet, Good Morning. You have versed the theme with all its deserving emotional factors maintained intact. But, I am not happy with the theme, nor of the comparison of the east and west women at all. I admonish most sisters, mothers, daughters and all forms of feminine relation with all humility, honesty, love and heart full of emotions that the segregated confusion in women's life is only because of women themselves, and a set of men who claim as emancipators of women. What they are doing is attracting the attention of others to think that they are feeble, unworthy, maimed and all. The world has accepted it as a practice it seems. Listen, kindly stop announcing the world that women suffer and are weak, instead, live life to the full with your family, and make the male members of each woman's family consider her the most blessed Goddess, without her no blessings will there be in a family or society, and she should remain pure for the sake of humanity to survive. Knowing this fact, a set of other questions might rise as well. For instant, what if men from other corners try to trample her? There are answers unsatisfactory and insensible. Even governments of the world have miserably failed by revising laws rigid and punishments severe. Have you all thought about this? Good many a number of prophets and cultural leaders have tried their best to save feminine destiny in history. Still, most of the efforts were in vain. Good, An over all psychological restructure among mankind would only set things right. I am sure, we can cure this malignant ailment. I am doing a serious research on this, please wait, let us pray and act. God Bless. Before anything, women must cast off sarcasm, cynicism and skepticism. By God's grace, in a future immediate, would there be gentle air of mutual trust, comfort and safety prevail in every nook and corners of this beautiful planet. God Bless.

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Kumarmani Mahakul 02 June 2019

How the women of West and East are beguiled and oppressed is so touchingly and aptly delineated by you in this poem titled 'Eve- Of The West And The East' having inspired by an article. Though the women of West are fearless and they can sing and dance yet they have to pass their lives with revelers in a relentless insecurity shrouding. In East a woman is considered as a piece of organic garbage yet she can easily brave the burning heat! A great work and great tribute to women. A 10

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Unnikrishnan E S 24 November 2016

Valsa Ma'm, Sorry that I have borrowed Akhtar Sahab's expression without his permission. I have a small family of three, where I am the lone male. I am quite proud of my daughter and would not hesitate to say, With her I am blessed. You have no reason to doubt Akhtar Sahab's words. As you have mentioned in your note, there is too much of generilisation in the observations made in the poem. What I mean is, a very large majority of families live in peace, where women are respected; the girl child is cherished and loved. In work place, even in India, they are respected. My daughter works, so I know. And, for that matter, she does not like any special consideration from anybody, for being a woman. Ma'm, please dont think I am discounting the importance of the poem by the foregoing statement. The attitudes which are the root cause of the incidents being repeated, has to change. Such incidents (as the Delhi rape, Soumaya, Jisha etc.) should never happen. Not even once. The punishments to the convicts should be adequately deterrent. But above all, the society should evolve. It should learn to respect women. We have lived in many places at various parts of India, where our daughter grew up. Now she lives in Chennai. She uses public transport, cabs, train, buses etc. But she hates to travel in public transport in Kerala. Because of the impolite stares and behaviour of the male population here. In the metros we lived no such thing; she is comfortable. Sorry, again. I would have closed my write, without mentioning how I liked the poem. Very beautifully penned; Very relevant. I could feel a very agitated heart driving the pen on. Thank you.

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Akhtar Jawad 25 March 2015

East or west, women are stressed Concede it or not, they are beguiled n' oppressed That's right but the other side of the coin? East or west women are loved, Concede it or not, they are highly assessed, They rule the hearts, they rule the souls, Thanks, My Lord! By an eve we are blessed...................10

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Valsa George 26 March 2015

Beautiful quatrain Akhtarji! Do you really mean it or do you secretly feel..... 'By an Eve we are cursed'? Any way thanks!

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Deepak Kumar Pattanayak 12 October 2014

So vividly spelt out the differences of women that exist in east and west with amazing words.....Valsa........ I am really speechless........phenomenal write

1 0 Reply
Valsa George 14 June 2013

Dear Mr. Robert Thanks for the comment, but please don't misunderstand! I don't have any hatred for anyone in particular!

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