Think not ..
You are born only for serving others
You are responsible for their welfare
You have to perform umpteen duties
You have to organise & manage others
Your work is only to cook, do laundry…
You aren’t, a housekeeper
You, my friends, are more than that
Don’t ever underestimate yourself
The God who created Men
Has created Women too!
In His eyes, all are the same
Some men & women fabricated
These weird rules–
To harass the innocent
To crush your self-confidence
To make you feel unwanted & lonely
To trod upon your ambitions
To reduce you to a state of helplessness
To overpower your mind & strength
To make you feel weak & exhausted till you give up
Just remember, undoubtedly
You have to look after your family but
Your spouse has to help too
Saying,’ I do that by taking up a job’
That’s not enough
You work much more than any 9-5 job
You are on duty 24 hours
Whoever says,’What do you do, you are at home?’
Let him/ her do the household chores for Say a week or even 24 hours
You go out & relax
The real fun will now begin–
There will be no end to the chaos at home
Shouting & screaming about being exhausted
Snapping at petty things
So if ‘you’ get tired doing housekeeping
Were the women having a picnic?
Just give it a thought all those men & women who–
Love making life, a hell for..
Someone else’s daughter but
Get furious & agitated
When it comes to their own daughter who has–
To bear the brunt of such mean-minded
selfish people.
Be thoughtful & generous
Every living being needs
Some moments for oneself
Snatch it not from them
God is watching each one of us
Karma isn’t going to go soft on anyone
Let’s do some introspection
Are we doing all that we expect from others?
Is it a reflection of our own failures?
Blame her not for your or your family’s wrongdoings
If you are so perfect, rectify them yourself
Piling accusations on —
The newcomer isn’t the answer
It only points out your own shortcomings, So-
This vicious cycle of authoritative meanness must end now, to avoid–
The birth of a mutiny in the family!
This blind culture of authority–
Passed down as inheritance must be Harnessed & rooted out before–
The precious institute of Family is butchered!
~ Anuradha S. Bannore
Vadodara, India
very true anuradha ji the male dynasty seems to think that they are the only creation of God and hence, keeping in line with Manu’s idiosyncratic views on male dominance, wield their power on women, treating her as the inferior and a housemaid after marriage. The saddest part of it all is that there are women also to be blamed in , who when they become mothers – in- law act cheaply like men,shame on such men and women in society.
Women’s work is so pathetic because it it is seen and appreciated only when not done ! And when done well disappears – leaving behind a depleted and tired soul .
This invisibility dehumanises and exhausts the woman who must learn to know her worth as Anuradha beautifully expresses in her poem and not let this internalised compulsion of pleasing others by not letting them find a a reason to be angry .
She must reclaim her personhood – remembering power was never handed on a platter .
I think it’s high time the ‘High Handedness’ of such useless authoritative behaviour towards any living being was brought under control. No one has any right to walk over others, be it a human or an animal. Every living being needs to be respected. God didn’t create discrimination but selfish, mean minded humans with swollen heads stuffed with false pride did
it. Thanks Ms Diwakar & Ms Jaya for appreciating the poem