WHO WILL SPEAK FOR HER?
Its been a tired year
It is a tired generation
The first engineers and doctors
The first graduates of a family
All tired
Like a broken shell waiting to fall apart
But
There is always a but
But on the way back home
Waiting for your shell to break softly on the bed
There was this small girl
Knocking on your car windows
Holding what seems to be colour pens
‘You don’t need them’
You think
Then you think again
But this times your eyes are stained with tears
You pay her more than what she asked for one pen
Because you remember
You remember walking to school barefoot
Your family’s poverty hidden by a sheer veil of honour
But as days grew, things got better
You remember your first flipflops
No that sounds bizarre
You got your first chappals
Then days went on
Like how time always does
And soon you family saw their first graduate
While the celebration lasted
You knew in your heart
Your extra ‘x’ chromosome
Would be a problem
Since women were always paid less
You hid this ugly truth from your family
And worked with joy
Why worry about equality
This is your first time ever being outside
Independent
the joy lasted a short while
today you are returning home
your hair in a messy bun
tired from the injustice
tired from running
but you are still stuck
in the memory of that little girl
“why must she work, she belongs in a school”
“who will change things”
You think to yourself
“maybe I can”
“maybe I should”
Nandhitha Babuji is a 18-year-old aspiring poet from Tamil Nadu, passionate about using her words to show solidarity against children’s issues.
