AN ODE TO EVE

(Four poems written in different languages on women

by women from across the world): ANANYA BANERJEE, SUSHMITA GUPTA, SAHELI MITRA & RITU SINGH

SILENCE

(by Saheli Mitra, journalist, author and blogger)

Tears glistened down those pink cheeks

That blossomed like a blooming bud..

As your harsh hands groped through her dignity,

Your savage teeth bit through her teats, till they bled.

Yet, she stood silent,

The deepest silence of a grave.

The rude darkness of a lost womb.

She should have screamed,

The painful scream of a labour room,

Fought and kicked,

Shaking off the hard flesh that

Tore her apart bit by bit

Digging at the groins that pinned her down.

Yet she was silent,

The silence before a storm,

The darkness of a moonless night.

And as you hurt her more and more,

Her staring silence lashed at you.

Like the whip of a sting ray,

Cutting across your sweaty flesh

Pinning you

Drawing you into her maze,

And you never found a way out.

Are you still lost in those dewdrops

That fall on the leaves?

Mirroring her pain and your triumph?

Did you win,

Did you kill,

Did u survive,

O Man?

GODDESSES ALL

(by Sushmita Gupta, artist from Muscat, who also writes poetry)

I do not live in a temple,
I never will.
All that incense,
Those offerings,
The sweetmeats,
The saris,
The garlands,
The flowers,
Were never for me.
For, I am,
Only an essence,
A feeling,
A chant,
And a fragrance.

I am a goddess.
I am every woman. 

I am the one you raped,

The one you loved,

The one you beat and bruised,

The one you married,

The one you cheated on.

The one you fathered,

The one you brothered.

The beggar,

The prostitute,

The mother,

The destitute.

The beauty,

The beast,

The faulty,

The diseased.

The sought,

The ignored,

The bought,

The abhorred.

I am every woman.

I am the goddess,

You seek in the temples.

EKTI MEYER ITI KATHA

 (by Ananya Banerjee, chemical engineer from Manchester UK)

(Bengali verse in English script)

Ami ek sadharon meye 

Aatharo bochhorey paa dewar agei

Jiboney pelaam matritwer swad,

Chhotto Ethan ke bukey niye 

Aamar ekla poth chola shuru. 

Baditey Ma shojyashayee ..... MS last stage

Babar onyo sansar sagar paarey,

Dine y Waitrose e sadharon chakri

Aar ratey podashona. 

Aaj beesh bochhor por

Amar chhotto Ethan mohiruho, 

Aami aajo swapno dekhi 

Kobita portey bhalobashi, 

Opekshaye thaki cherry blossom aar daffodil er ashaye

Aami banchtey bhalobashi

Aami ek sadharon meye. 

-मुझे मैं बने रहने दो

(by Ritu Singh, a student from  Dhanbad, Jharkhand)

(Hindi verse)

मुझे मैं बने रहने दो

सुनो तुम

मुझे मै ही रहने दो |

न बांधो मेरा दायरा

न रोको मेरी राहें

यूँ पुरुषार्थ का अपने

अनुचित इस्तेमाल न करो

बेबुनियादी दलीलों से अपनी मेरा रुख न मोड़ो |

क्या हो जायगा गर

मैं रहु बनकर मैं

न ढलु तुम्हारे वेश में

गाऊ अपने ही गीत

नाचू अपने धुनों पे |

देखलू मैं सारी खुशियाँ

जीलू अपनी दुनिया

जीलू अपनी दुनिया

राहों पे अपनी चलु

मंज़िल को अपनी पहुचु

अपनी मर्ज़ी से हसु

मर्ज़ी से रोलु |

तुम न टोको बनके जल्लाद

न गलत ठहराओ मुझे दिन रात

मेरे कपडे कैसे हो तुम न तय करो

मुझे मन से मेरे पढ़ने दो

या जो क्षेत्र चाहू वो चुनने दो

मै नाचू

मैं गाऊ

खिलाड़ी बन मैदान पे जाऊ

नर्तकी बन नृत्य दिखालाऊ

कलाकार बन कला बिखेरु

लेखिका बन कई लेख लिखू

गृहणी बन गृह सम्भालू

मैं जिस ओर चाहू मुड़ जाऊ |

अपनी इच्छाएं मुझपे न थोपो

मेरे बढ़ते कदमो को अब न रोको

रास्ते में मेरी कांटे न बिखेरो

मैं जी सकती हूँ बनकर मैं

तय कर सकती हूँ हर फासला

रोक लुंगी मैं आँधियाँ

जीतूंगी लड़कर चाहे जितनी हो कठिनाइया

मुझे डंके की चोट पे जीने दो |

सुनो तुम

मुझे मैं ही बने रहने दो

मेरी जिंदगी जी लेने दो