My birth moment brought about a dynamic change in my relatives’ expressions,
The atmosphere got transformed from anticipation to frustration.
My initial expressions matched that of each of my relative in the Hospital’s dorm,
The lone one to cry in joy was none other than my mom.
During childhood, people in my locality nurtured me with love & care
But now that I've grown mature, I get scared even by their stares.
I've now got acquainted with the position of each of the sewage drain in the locality,
But the newspaper gave me light, about the change of lampposts, by the municipality.
The first time I had left home, for pursuing my higher education,
My mother acted sternly that day, in defiance to hide her expressions.
That day, her rolling tears, appeared to move faster than the speed of the train,
And they soon turned uncontrollable as the monsoon rains.
Thereafter she called me several times a day, with conversations not so detailed,
More than her love for me, it was her sense of fear that prevailed.
Before entering into the sacred marriage relationship,
My would-be husband had to be weighed down on a scale of material possession ship.
They say that father gets relieved at the marriage of his daughter,
But the debt he was now under was justly equivalent to his slaughter.
Looking back at life, each moment of it was at other’s stake,
Forcing me to recollect what was My First Mistake?
Totally heart-wrenching and unbelievable how anyone could look down on a girl born from heaven, they are the source of all human life, without them there is no child, boy or girl, so why is this stigma placed on a girl. What kind of barbarism is this? How can people be so cruel and ignorant? Why is this practice of a dowry still going on in the 21st century? It is of the dark ages and should have remained there. Finding out about these things through your poem just stuns me to the core of my being. Thank you for bringing these atrocities to the attention of the world, there was a mistake made, but not by the girl! RoseAnn
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
But now that I've grown mature, I get scared even by their stares. The first time I had left home, for pursuing my higher education, My mother acted sternly that day, in defiance to hide her expressions. Husband, material possessions, the debt of the father.. A very realistic poem… to be born as a girl. Fear, worry, death for the family. In indian society in the 21st Centuary. It is so painful to see all this. Who will revolt against it…… who? All the women of india should come out to revoult. Thank you this wonderful realistic poem. tony