The oldest religion

 You can have it all!

Drink perfume &

smell like milk

Dance your witch dance

everybody screams

at the greats always.

Don’t dance

to the music of mere men.

Drink deep.

kiss a few kraken

join the oldest religion

Not in Florence

nor in the machine

But love.

The soothing magic of it all

Makes you finally belong

So Poets and Storyteller's United had a very interesting prompt - next week, we’ll invite you to take inspiration from the title of songs in Florence and the Machine’s new album, Everybody Scream. Examples: “Sympathy Magic”, “Perfume and Milk”, “Buckle”, “Kraken”, “And Love”. I decide why not have it all and incorporated almost all the titles in one go :P

She knew

He was so good for her they said. She should be lucky to have him. He was successful in his career , he was caring , he claimed to love her very much , he constantly kept complimenting her. Constantly. He was her caste. He was a true gentleman. He always said the right things. But beneath that seemingly perfect man was an actual asshole waiting to burst out. He however never showed it. But she could feel it in her bones. The way he said things which she wanted to hear. The way his lips curled down sometimes when he was getting bothered but chose not to show. The way he made every decisions hers and basked in the radiance of his magnanimity. The way he loved playing victim. Constantly making her the villain with his actions and not words. The signs were so subtle sometimes she thought she was imagining them. No one would believe her even if she told. Her own mom was smitten by him. But she knew.

 #abusivemen #ministories #theyknow #theyknowthatweknow #mentalhealth #meredithgrey #instastories 

Inner Goddess

(Of peace )

Valar Morgulis

This is the 21^st century

Flying automobiles may not be far away

Yet justice remains a distant dream

For young women in the Pollachi

Who got sucked into the blackhole

Where technology trapped their innocent minds

And cameras coveted their flesh

By predatory influential men

Who blackmailed them to no end

And silenced their horrors

with the concept of shame.

Yet!

It is the girls who are blamed

For chatting with these imposters online

And befalling shame upon their families

For risking their virginity and honor.

Because

A woman is just a sum of her body parts

And

A badge of honor

And

A Flawless flagship

All at the same time.

The boys?

They will remain boys ofcourse

Reprimanded for their glaring errors

And

Cajoled for their lighter ones

They will grow out of it yaar.

The trauma?

Will be forgotten

Swept under the bloody carpet

And the closet of skeletons

Put on a brave face

Act like nothing happened

Better yet

If they just die

And put their family out of their miseries

Because broken women

are a blot on this society

and we would much rather gossip

on how a woman must have tortured

that her husband had to stab her in the family court*

 rather than

have a real conversation about Pollachi.

This is the 21^st century

And ‘women empowerment adorns every manifesto.

Thank you so much.

See links on Pollachi rape here

and family court stabbing here

The Girl who cried wolf

The Girl who cried wolf

Splendid Sir

Do you know the girl who cried wolf?

Of course you do

Do you believe her torrid tales of

The Big Bad wolves

Who feast on her soul every day?

Probably you do.

We do know that one bad animal

doesn’t define a species

Do you?

#Notallwolves

We get it sir

Can we get on with it?

Your fragile ego

Calls her a Nazi

And disses her into a ditch

Of silent suffering

Like the good old days

When girls were good

Like little red riding hood

You forgot the moral of the story didn’t you?

You Too

I too didn’t

 wanna  get raped

Stalked hunted preyed on

And

Live in a social structure

Where I could do no wrong.

I too wanted to report him

And make him pay

For all the layers

He stripped off me

And made me a sexual object

Only worthy of being attained

I too want to come out clean

After I burn down this building

Of patriarchy and misogyny

Where his silence is valued more than my voice

And my silence is enough to prove his male noise.

I too

I really do

But will you pay my bills

And help me when I’m on pills?

Why will I ask you for justice

When you shame me for asking too late

Truth is

You don’t want me to voice out

And change this system

Where it works just fine for you

How is my accusation worse than his actions?

Because now you have to do something about it now?

So I’m sorry

If it is going to affect your privileged little life

But I am going to climb to the roof of your building

Take my biggest fricking megaphone

And shout YOU TOO*

*you silent enabler of patriarchy

I hope you can hear now*

Rockstar

I Rebel

Don’t compromise

Non conform

Break Glass Ceilings

Only for it to shatter all over me

Cuts deeper than wound

I persist

Keep flying towards the star

My scars sing to the world

That I am a rockstar

And now I wave down at them

Because I dared to climb up. 

Being Wo/man

Reinstating obvious things which are sadly not so obvious to many out there.

On this ‘women’s day’ I want to state the following things : -  

1) Feminism is not a bad word. It advocates the equality of all genders.

2) Like Emma Watson said , Gender shouldn’t be two opposing ideals but a wide spectrum accommodating every one.

3) A man is under pressure to be a ‘man’ too. He can’t show emotions , he HAS to provide for the family and  be tough and captain of the ship at all times. No one wants to marry a guy who is not ‘settled’. That’s sexist too.

What?!

4) If a woman wants to start a family and settle down instead of being career driven it is fine too. As long as one is doing something of their own will and not because of societal pressure it is absolutely fine. A man being a housemaker is nothing to be ashamed of. I was very surprised when my juniors were literally bullying their friend when she said her dream in life was to get married and have a family. Shaming is Shaming guys!

5) It is not womens day but women’s day. Please know the difference. Please stop using words like ‘feminazi’. It is a sincere request. It is a disservice to all the people who lost their lives and disrespect to all the feminists trying to express their original opinions.

The worst of the internet

6) While having a ‘day’ for something is a largely commercial concept to drive up sales and makes us ‘feel good’ , it does help bring the limelight on hitherto unknown views and problems. It helps create constructive discussion and debates and also improves awareness and make the issues commonplace. Only if you acknowledge it you can overcome it.

7) Saying that some issues which I feel need to be discussed more :-

• Acid attacks on women and men ( to a lesser extent)
• Marital Rape
• Objectification of men and women in mainstream media and public consciousness
• Legalization of Prostitution in order to curb Human Trafficking

Iraivi

They called me iraivi*

And put me up on a pedestal

Easier to throw stones

Be pushed down

They expected me to be grateful

For I was the goddess

Who ‘could’ do no wrong.

‘Should’ would have been more appropriate.

If I say yes,

I am a slut .

If I say no,

I am a bitch.

If I speak up,

I am a feminazi.

If I don’t speak ,

I am arrogant.

With eyes brimming with romantic paternalism

They revere me ,

And demand millions of sacrifices

That would befit a god.

Just treat me like a woman

I seemingly shout out with my studied silence

From atop the pedestal

Which was actually a golden cage

For the Iraivi can do no wrong

She is a goddess you fools!

Iraivi* - Tamil term for Goddess

So i wrote this during exam times and never had the time to publish it. Thought it would befit the poets united's 'pedestal' theme.