You know it’s not so simple… You know it’s not so easy… Trying to be okay Holding onto sanity It takes its toll and when it does… You sit back Break up inside Thrash and wail Feel helpless and See hopelessness prevail You know it’s not so kind… You know it’s not so pure… To be a woman here In a world not designed To let her stay and breathe To keep her refined So she tries with all her might To fit in… In such a manner That she stands out just right

I am struggling for words Because I don’t know what to tell you You have asked all the questions I know not how to keep track of them I am trying to make sense Of your care — it is a perfect pretence. You will speak up for a few days There will be outrage, maybe protests I will tell you my story in the utmost detail It will have not what you expect But I will give you the complete essence Of my uncomfortable silence.

I feel vulgar. I feel obscene. This rising ravish, What does it mean? I laugh, I cry At the hideous makeup. The silent society, Playing a deadly dress up. Who will answer the questions? Who will muffle the screams? Of those silenced souls Of those dawning dreams. Why was I…

I look in the mirror and I see a monster. Filthy. Disgusting. Virile. But Amma says I am innocent and pure. I will grow up to be a gentleman who’d bring happiness and peace into the lives of people around me. I want to believe her. I really really do…

There was something different in the air today. It felt a little thicker, a tad bit heavier, and most definitely coarser. Every single breath felt like an effort. As I gulped down one breath after the other, I could feel a permanent exhaustion settling over me. Is this how it…

I strolled down the empty road. The vacant pathway stretched far ahead and behind. It seemed like I had appeared in the midst of this expanse out of nowhere and now there seems no place to get to either. Without an unclear idea and a fogged up thought I just…