The diary of a harlot's child

The diary of a harlot’s child

I heard her scream from the room next to mine

I knew how she would look tomorrow

She’ll be having those bruises

And I’ll be looking her right into her eyes; filled with sorrow,

She wanted to tell me,

I wanted to question.

But how could she explain why she was with him, still?

Hadn’t he given her enough reasons to leave?

But she’s a woman; she says she’s weak,

And has nowhere to go, no shelter to seek.

So I told her, “Ma, I’m with you.

So what if you had to choose this work

And do what you do?

I go to school, Ma.

The NGO will help me be a better person.

Not better than you for you’ve sacrificed every bit of your existence

For me to have a better life, a life you never had

For me to not get married to someone like dad.”

She held my hand in hers and squeezed it gently.

She closed her eyes and prayed silently.

She gave me a talisman.

She said she would always be with me.

She kissed my forehead

Gave a peck on my cheek

She waved at me as I started to leave

I couldn’t concentrate in school that day

I wanted to go home and hug her

But when I got home that day,

I saw her body hanging from the cover.

Such is the life of people who work for men.

Men, that don’t respect women and consider them objects,

Another one gone, thousands still alive,

Who knows, another kid’s mother might have just departed from this life.

Let there be light

I stood in the balcony and watched little kids burst firecrackers. The sound of their laughter filled the air and I… I felt nostalgic.

It is that time of the year again when people lit lampions, lamps, candles, and also, burst firecrackers. It is Diwali. Diwali has been my favourite festival. It is so bright, colourful, vibrant and joyful. And oh yes, how can we forget about the food? That food! Oh I would give anything to celebrate Diwali at least 5 times a year and not just once. It is that one time of the year when moon is not really required to be present in the sky because the land is already lit up. And I know that people from other countries visit India and complain about poverty, slums, traffics, suffocation, even. But the actual time to visit India is during Diwali. Nowhere in the world, would you ever see such colourful nights and beautiful surroundings.

I remember when I was little, my dad used to get tons of firecrackers and I used to burst them all like crazy and ask for more when they used to get over. And my dad being a festive person himself, would get me more firecrackers. It was every year’s story. And I thought this would never change. But soon, Earth started to turn grey and we, as mature teenagers, had to stop polluting the environment. Kids these days are taught to celebrate a pollution-free Diwali but that’s like refraining from using colours on Holi because it is harmful. And I know it is not mandatory to play with firecrackers during Diwali, but it has been a tradition for decades and it feels incomplete without firecrackers now. When I was a kid, my elders asked me to not play with firecrackers for the same reason, but I still did, because I was a kid. Then how can I expect kids these days to stop enjoying and start thinking about saving the Earth? They deserve a little fun too. And I am totally against those crackers which possess decibels more than required and allowed, but the smaller ones are benign or at least less harmful.

So let the kids enjoy and let us be the responsible adults and do our bit by not bursting firecrackers and save mother Earth. Because when these kids would grow up, they would do the same and set examples then, like we would now.

Let there be light!