It is okay

Posted on by Hemalatha Ramesh

I’ll teach my daughter it’s okay to be angry, when the world tries to convince her with bitter truths and sweet lies, when her opinions are valued less, when the teacher calls her ‘undisciplined’ for looking at other row of the classroom, when properties are not splitted equally. I’ll teach my daughter it’s okay to scream out in rage when she can’t solve the chemical equation that she would never need in life, when she is forced to wear bangles and banarasi sarees, when she is expected to have children after a year of marriage. I’ll teach my daughter to be iron that is solid at room temperature, to turn any human that stares with wide eyes into ashes, to not smile back at random people in a relatives wedding. I would teach my daughter that it’s okay to stand up for herself even when called a ‘disgrace to family’. I would teach my daughter its okay to not marry the guy she accidentally falls in love with, it is okay to continue living with tattoo of ex-lover’s name in the wrist, it is okay to not be always kind, always caring, it is okay to not abide the stereotypes of being soft as flowers, tender as leaves and self-sacrificing as roots, it is okay to be free and not fasten to norms, expectations and conditions of the society.
I’ll teach my daughter it is okay to be angry at people, parents and partners.
I’ll teach my daughter its okay to be angry, demanding and tough,
because, we live in a country where woman miss to carry lunch box in handbag but never pepper spray, where women share their live location to father and dear friends right after boarding the bus, where women are beaten to death, where media rank states with highest to lowest divorce rate forgetting the victims of domestic abuse, where woman die with only haldi and vermillion stains in hand, where women’s dreams perish under the veil,
where women get nothing until they have pleaded for decades.

#napowrimo – day 06

Advertisement

38 thoughts on “It is okay”

  2. Yes Dear Hemalatha It’s Okay to
    Be Free And Fully Human As That
    Comprises All Human Feelings And

    Emotions

    And Senses From
    Head to Toe And More

    It’s Even Better to Move Now
    Somewhere Where This is Allowed

    It’s Ever Better to Actually Exercise These

    Freedoms NoW As Even Where They Are Allowed

    Some Folks Still Have

    No Clue How to Even
    Be Free

    And

    Fully Human Now
    Of Course Opinions
    Vary And That’s Part Of Freedom True too..:)

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  3. Dear Hemalatha, please, take to heart what I am saying because I have done myself what I am saying to you. There is only one way you can assure your daughter’s happy future, and that is by EDUCATION. If she is not good at sciences she can study IT, literature or something else, but study she must. It will put her in a privileged position because people respect well-spoken, intelligent women.
    She would be able to marry her choice of an educated man with an open mind and without expecting her to be a subservient cook/housekeeper.

    Joanna
    my email if you need me is – naturetailsuk@gmail.com

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Can’t agree more with you, Jo. This is what my mother says me too. Education is always the key to freedom, liberty. It liberates and adds on confidence like no other.
      Thank you so much for reading and sharing your thoughts. I value them so much!

      Like

      Reply

  7. The frustration of expected to compromise and adjust to so many societal pressures can be very intimidating Hema. We should teach our daughters to hold up their heads high with dignity and stand up for themselves.
    Powerful write!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  10. I hear and heard, I feel and felt, this outrage of misogyny so great as to beggar belief, but believe it we must. Let all men take heed for the denial of the place that brings all life is the gravest of errors not only in thought but in all aspects of life. It is simple. Pay respect to the womb space: all acts, thereafter, will fill the heart with a joy so deep as to bring the whole within you to the fore. To find and know the feminine is to know one’s self, truly.
    *I salute you Hema your words and courage are divinely given. I accept and receive this timeless wisdom. Thank You*

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. I always wait for you to read my poems, I look for your comments and feedbacks because I treasure your words like they are gems.

      If only all men resonant with your words, the world would be a better place for women and humans in general. It’s disheartening to see a country like India where goddesses are worshipped treating women like slaves.

      Thank you so much for reading, Sir! ❤️
      And Sir. Alec, I would be more than happy if you could read my other #Napowripo poems in your leisure time :))

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. gosh Hema, I am blushing bright red…I have 3 sisters and grew up with them my mam and nana… I abhor male violence against women and girls… it is the longest running pandemic, like ever… I have been away from here for a bit just to clear my head… and of course I will read your poems… if you want send to me here alecfraher@googlemail. com….I only have an android phone to use and WP seems to zap the battery…. I will look though once I have full charge… and Thank You for such comments… challenging misogyny can be an intimidating thing, it’s so pervasive and deeply embedded in most mainstream institutions….

        Liked by 1 person

      1. I am just a boy,
        All men really are,
        We are told lies,
        massive lies,
        about manhood,
        All people’s is wom(b)en.
        True,
        Collective,
        Heart,
        To know,
        Is,
        Knowombledge,
        Have,
        To have,
        And give,
        To each other,
        Courage to (b)
        Wom(b)en and M(b)en together.
        B, together
        Listen for,
        See for,
        Feel for,
        Believe,
        In,
        w [OM] b,
        For each other…

        Like

      3. I find that all my email communications fall rapid victim to anxiety producing carrier waves, destroying any relationship entrusted to them. So far, comments on this site evoke more normal responses. If you ever start another website, let me know. Best of good fortune to you, brother.

        Like

      4. gotcha: seemingly I have lots of sites on WP but the one I, actually, paid for never worked as WP said. l will have to visit a library to sort out the mess as limited to a very tired Android. You’re work provokes ansod prompts ‘a doingness’ which I have to say is very much needed, so thank you. I, too, am totally skint so can’t help in that way. Be, and stay strong Ana.

        Like

      5. Oh, I understand. I do it all on an Android too. And every damn body’s skint ~ not one contribution in four months! Well, we do it for reasons other than money, right? Take good care, brother, see you when you make it back.

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

Published by Hemalatha Ramesh

I turn my thoughts to words, words to emotions.