R.E.S.P.E.C.T. – Some earn it by playing for the nation; some earn it by devoting their whole lives to the misery of the destitute, some by singing melodies for decades together, some by creating music and some by inventing things that make earth a better place to live for all of us.
The person who inspired me to write today is none of the above; she is no Sachin, no Lata, no Rehmaan, no APJ, and no Mother Teresa. But she’s NO LESS…
She’s a woman from Nepal who has dedicated her life to combating the sexual exploitation of women and children. Yes, you read it right…CHILDREN. Anuradha Koirala and her group, Maiti Nepal, have helped more than 12,000 victims of Nepal's sex trafficking business.
This poem of mine is for each one of those girls and children who have escaped, suffered or succumbed to the inhuman act of trafficking for flesh-business…
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Was I not good enough that way…
When I was a daughter, a sister, a friend, a human…
They have disfigured me with utter dismay…
But why have you ignored me with such disdain…
Need I be of your service; you pick up the phone and call him…
Did he ever mention to you, my mother is ill and bed-bound…
Need you ever satiate your lust, you use my flesh and skin…
Did I ever tell you that when I see the dark, my heart pounds?
I too had a brother, small and puerile he was when I last kissed him…
Then I came to this world so fulsome, where soul and love didn't mean anythin’…
I wonder whether father was right when he taught me of heaven and hell…
‘Coz as I see it, all my life, I’ve been part of an imposed sin…
Misconstrued as it may, coprolalia was not taught to me in nursery…
Shaken so much am I, I don’t know anymore what feeling feels…
If a hand comes towards me, I bare myself before it hits me…
How I wish to hell the wounds that you, yes you, gave me, heals…
They say I’m a house breaker, but I ask thee…
Did I ever see the sunshine wash my hands without a stare mutilating my peace?
People say I’m a harlot, a strumpet, a filthy whore…
Who’s ‘people’ here? Please, don’t ask me…
Now, all I know of family is the guy who pays me after you leave…
I ask you - Am I what I am myself, or YOU forced me to be?
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We can’t feel what they feel…my words fail to express even a pinch of what they undergo every second of their lives…
All I can say is human trafficking is heinous. Let’s pledge to do our bit to spread the awareness – at the least.
As Anuradha ji says, “Close your eyes for a moment and imagine that it’s your daughter, sister or mother in that place, and then open them to feel the energy and the will power you find in yourself to fight the cancer of human trafficking. Together I hope WE can end it…”
For more, please visit: http://www.maitinepal.org/