The Mosquito

This one is a pretty long poem on something I hope all of you would relate to. This is something all of us experience on a daily basis but never gave much thought to it. It is sometimes extremely important for us to notice the little things in life and enjoy them. Happy Reading!

When she first saw it

She thought it was just another bindhi

That she sticks on the wall for easy access

Each at a strategic position to please the society

But when she looked closer she realized 

That it was something more dangerous

More powerful and more vulnerable, all at the same time

She felt pity for the poor creature

Stuck on the wall like cow dung left to dry 

She imagined it sleeping peacefully with its family

Having conversations over dinner about life

But the human in her reminded her of the advertisements where they threatened to take over the human race

In a voice which belonged to the greatest villains of all time

Undoubtedly the human in her slowly picked up the weapon of choice to kill it

Like Ashwathama who killed the sons of Pandavas

She too planned to kill it in its sleep

But these life threatening aliens outsmart humans

Just as she was about to strike

It flew up and above

Whizzed past her eyes

And sat on her nose

Pricking her human ego

She thought of ripping her now impure nose

As she moved around like a samurai with a sword

It flew again

But this time she caught it

The weapon had been stained with the blood of thousands of its family and friends 

And bore the brunt of time

She hit its sides to the wall to make it work

And then the real torture began

It tossed and jumped across the weapon

It's blood burning reminding her of burning flesh

And as soon it had began it ended

The mosquito was finally put to peace

She thought in horror

"Oh how I have sinned by killing this poor thing

What if they become extinct?"

Ah! they will just join the queue to get an Aadhar card at the 'Centre of Extinct Animals'

Right behind the western black rhinoceros

Evil voices wearing black capes surrounded her whispering "dengue" "malaria"

She looked at the back of her leg

Where she had scratched the mosquito bites leaving a beautiful pattern

Now she was agitated

"Let's kill them all" she thought

Like a commando at work

She braced herself, checked her weapon, said a short prayer to God to absolve her of all sins

She went around like a mad woman

Chasing them around and looking for them in every nook and corner

Their cries of horror were like music to her ears

The smell of blood was her symbol of victory

It represented everything she hated 

She named each one of them

The first one to die was her in laws

Then came her nosy neighbor

Then that security guard who ogles at her breasts

Then that 5th grade math teacher who once slapped her

Those corrupt officials in that ruin called 'government office'

Those who rape

Those who kill in the name of God

Exhausted, she sat down

She realized that she couldn't kill them all

Because as she killed one, two popped up to take its place

Both in mosquitoes and in the things she hated

#ME TOO: AN ABHORRED AWAKENING

The #metoo campaign has spread across borders and reached the country which worships women as goddesses at the same time carries out chilling violence against them. It has barged into the doors of the highest levels of the government and in many fields has caused shocking revelations. Alok Nath, MJ Akbar, Nana Patekar, Chetan Bhagat, Vairamuthu and the list goes on. Many of these men had gone for the more courteous way of dealing with allegations by either publicly apologising or by stepping down. Not surprisingly, some others have denied such allegations by branding them as a ‘publicity stunt’ and misused the legal tool of the judiciary: defamation. But India’s experience with the #metoo movement is different from that of other countries. It is important to understand that India is slowly opening up by questioning and challenging its own and others’ beliefs. Decriminalisation of Section 377, Striking down Section 497 and allowing women into the Sabarimala temple are just a few examples. Like a little child with wide eyes, it is slowly opening its horizon of thinking, accepting and rejecting new ideas suiting to its needs. With that background, it wouldn’t be shocking to see a few well known personalities sidelining this movement. They ask what they think is a very valid question “Why are you opening up now but not then?” and statements like “You could have just slapped him” This sort of victim blaming is unacceptable in any time context. The victim’s mental state when they are being harassed is unfathomable for these cultural specialists. Instead of extending their support for those who came out, it has become a norm to question them and suggest what they should have done. This shakes down the victim’s morale as in spite of telling the truth they are chided over a time span for them to recover. Even if they had ‘slapped’ them or actually faced the torturous process of going through trial years ago, what would have happened? It would have brought about no radical change in society simply because of the fact that society then was not one which encouraged victims to speak up and harassment topped the list of taboo. As a matter of fact, a law for sexual harassment at work place was in place only 5 years ago. There is also the popularly held belief that #metoo movement is temporary and does nothing more than shame a few abusers. This is incorrect on various levels. The fact that millions of women have spoken about their traumatic experience makes them an army of warriors. They are not going to go away any time soon. Hollow apologies and unequal compensation behind the screens have been replaced by public apologies, stepping down, and court trials. It is set in motion a radical change and belief that there is some force which is there to support the victim and leaves the abusers with a strong message that they are not going to be let free. Some have even made the movement seem like a sort of game where people just accuse each other to settle scores. The Union Minister for Shipping and Finance asked “If someone makes an allegation that such a thing happened, when the incident happened we were playing together while in class 5, would it be fair?” The #metoo movement is not some sort of political arena where people make blunt unchecked allegations against each other. This is a worldwide phenomenon which involves a serious level of criminality. When John Oliver (political comedian) asked Anita Hill (a famous advocate who accused her senior of harassment in the 80s but was instead subjected to public scorn) whether men should be scared to be around women, she answered “Not if they are not harassers”. #Metoo movement has left something innate to human life: hope. Hope that no victim would go unheard and no harasser would go unpunished. As Winfrey Oprah said “Take us to the time where nobody has to say ‘me too’ again”.