Rani and Maya – A Poem
Rani lived in a palace with iron walls She drove around with tough entourage Armed with bodyguards in shopping malls She walked around with a defiant cry Saying women should live without any fear Urging them to put on their fighting gear But Rani still lived within her iron walls Her ears were stuffed to all earthly calls
Maya challenged by this rousing cry Bravely marched out of home Did whatever, ready to do or die One stormy night, hungry prowlers Stalked her on steaming hot streets Where some men took her for meat Maya came home that night a victim of rape Thrown to the winds of a cruel fate Tattered, torn, in spirit destroyed None came to Maya, to wash her wounds None came to mend her tattered ruins
Rani shielded by big brawny bouncers Went on shrieking her message of freedom Encouraging women to fight for liberation Millions of women stomped on streets Shouting loud noisy declarations But Maya lost her voice of freedom Life was a game in glints of the random
Maya and Rani lived in two different worlds Rani did not face what common streets hurled Sometimes in life, adaptation is needed to live Sometimes, we have to receive in order to give Sometimes, we have to assess our situation is not supported and upheld merely by our enthusiasm But in knowing our limitations, we get new inspiration Reviving ourselves with new fire, beyond noisy declarations The light of true understanding breaks all inhibitions And then a Rani and a Maya can fight on the same platform Shattering hollow cries and angry mad insanity When women of different worlds meet And uphold each other in real-time reality
Rita F. Kurian
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