Poems,Short Stories and Novels
I took my bowl and went door to door
begging with forlorn eyes
To approve of me and love me more.
Hoping that there was one soul who would
See me for who I am and complete parts of me,
Which I was afraid to show.
I finally realized that, that was their story too,
Their holes were bigger and their begging bowls too!
Then I met a wise man who told me,look inside you,
you are holding the ocean in a bowl called ‘You’!
To all the women across the globe!
I am a woman.
The world dictates,
what I should wear,
how long my skirts should be,
And my perfect size in centimeters.
I am a woman.
And the world tells me,
If I speak freely I am a flirt,
If I sleep around I am a slut,
If I don’t agree to what you say,
I am a bitch.
I am a woman.
And the world objectifies me,
For the shiny car they need to sell.
For the booze that needs to clear your head.
For their desire to be kindled I need to dress.
In skimpy, tight clothes that don’t fit.
I am a woman.
And the rules are set,
To be the perfect wife who cooks three meals.
To earn money to compensate the rising needs.
To be a mother, caregiver and a pleasure in bed.
I am a woman and
I take back my power,
To feel an equal,
To be respected because I am no less,
To be paid for my talents not based on my gender instead.
To make my own decision because I am equipped,
with grey matter inside my head.
Books have been my one constant friend in my ever changing territory of life.
Growing up in India, only the big cities had libraries and it was a tedious journey to go there by bus so I have only visited the library named Connemara in Chennai once I should say! Also my dad took me to the British Consulate once to see the library they had.
But anywhere I found a book, I would read. Stories soothed me and made me forget the world in which I lived. But I had this one book which I remember getting as a gift – A fairy tales. The drawing were so beautiful and the pages so smooth, that I read probably more than a 100 times.
Then as we moved around a lot when I was young, I lost the book. I was sad and when the internet was introduced and online shopping became a thing, I searched for that book and hoped I would find it again. But never did.
But lo behold, on a trip to my sister home as I was browsing through her book collection, I saw my book. The joy I felt cannot be described and I felt I was that young girl again and was so emotional seeing it. Seeing my reaction, my sister was happy to part with it and now the book is back with my other book collections. I have read those stories to my children and it felt life comes back in full circle.
When I came to U.S, my first visit to the library felt like I was in heaven. Every where I turned there were books – for all genre, for all ages and on top of that it was free and we could take up to 75 books! I read voraciously for all the years that I had lost not reading. I stayed up till 3 a.m reading a book, because I never had the patience to wait for the ending.
It was and still is the best place to be in the world for me!
Nimmu's 