By Reeti Singh:
Oppression, suppression,
Abuse and misuse;
Beating and the weeping,
Crying and the screaming;
Stop lamenting your pains!
Come on, get up-
And be the change!
“ it is for us to serve”,
“ he screams and beats me”,
“I am his wife and still he cheats me”,
Stop lamenting your pains!
Come on, get up-
And be the change!
“We have to sit, shy”
“We have to drop tears till our eyes are dry”,
“we have to dress for our masters,
For him and his friends,
For my in-laws and their men”,
Stop following all these rules,
Stop crying, It is for you to choose-
Lift the purdah, shed the veil!
It is for you to choose.
Stop lamenting your pains!
Come on, get up-
And be the change!
“we must not walk in the twilight,
Never ever wander through the night,
Thieves are many, out to loot you-
Men who wait to kill and wound you!”
Stop believing all this, for it is not true-
Stop acting the saint!
Stop lamenting your pains!
Come on, get up-
And be the change!
It is for you to decide,
It is for you to choose, Whether to live or to hide,
The world around you will forever sympathize,
Know you too in your heart there is nothing to pride,
Pride not your own but that of the world.
Shun it all,
You need it not!
Choose within, or choose it not!
live within pity of the self or walk in the sunshine-
The choice is yours to live or to hide, in guises not of your own.
Stop lamenting your pains!
Come on, get up-
And be the change!