I Am Not A Goddess
I am not a goddess
Don’t put me on a pedestal
Don’t make me the reason for your wars
Don’t wrap me up in six meters¹
Don’t say it’s for my best
Don’t put me in a cage
Don’t weigh me with chains
Of Expectations
I am not a goddess
Don’t kill in the name of my ‘honor’
Don’t slay an innocent and call it culture
Don’t pierce lovers on your swords
While you pierce underage children
Don’t wrap women up in shame
While you wrap yourself up in rubber
Don’t pull pink pallu on one’s face
And black ink² on another
Respect ME
The me I am
Not the me you want me to be
The me who wears shorts
The me who wears red lips
The me who loves men and women
Sometimes three
I am not a goddess
I am not a saint
I am not an aadarsh
Anything you said
I am not dutiful
I am not ashamed
I am not a goddess
Don’t compare me to one
I am not a goddess
I don’t want to be one
I am not a goddess
I am just a woman
~
Radha
aadarsh- adj. ideal
¹A saree is six meters long.
²In Indian Subcontinent, whenever a woman does something that ‘dishonors’ her family and people, black ink is put on her face to shame her. Think Scarlett Letter.
