BUILDING LOVE
I asked my mother
About the wrinkles on her stomach
While I was praying for a flat stomach and acne free skin
She had embraced her ‘post birth’ stomach
‘you were inside, right here’
She said pointing
‘it was our nest’ she said
But I knew how her beautiful nest
Was ripped apart by the doctors
It was a caesarean
The scar would last forever
The nest had been broken
Instead of staying home
She chose to challenge the system
she went back to work
Finding the right thistles and leaves
And now she had built a stronger nest
Our home.
I see the helper who comes to our home
I see her eyes twinkle when she speaks about her children
A single mother
Yet she had built the strongest nest for her children
Going to work
Being a housewife
Having children
Deciding not to and adopting a pet
It didn’t matter
My mother told me
The time has come now
Its 2021
You don’t have to build nests for the family
You build one for yourself
Keep yourself safe and show the world what you hold
Later that day
At work I saw other women
Building their nests while helping the world
Some at NASA and ISRO
Some being entrepreneurs and leaders
Yet always building and building
The nests that will save the world
The nests strong enough to battle prejudice
Women will always be building for a safer world
Resistance is all she knows
The world isn’t a safe place
Yet she chooses to challenge in for change
While being catcalled and given lower wages
Women were always building
the nests ; they were building homes for other women
for the discriminated and the hurt
for the girls and their moms
her nests become an armour against hate
All the hate that will flood
Into her confidence and will
Yet she will #choosetochallenge the hurdles
And she will never stop building her nests
never stop building
Changing the world in every instance
Nandhitha Babuji is a 18-year-old aspiring poet from Tamil Nadu, passionate about using her words to show solidarity against children’s issues.