I was taking my 5-year-old niece to the park today and she asked me what we'd be doing. 'Accha amra park e ghurbo ar catch catch khelbo'(1) I said. She gives me that gleeful giggle of her and asks, 'Ar aloo kabli khabona?'(2) She loves aloo kabli above all worldly pleasures. 'Sure little one' Later once home, Nitu sat in my lap doodling an aloo kabli wallah while I was scrolling through my newsfeed. Up came a post about Asifa, some petition asking for justice. Nitu being the curious little tich is all, ‘Oma, bonu ta ki cute! (3) Who’s she?’ She goes back to her doodling when I don’t or rather can't answer. And suddenly it comes crashing in at that moment. I realise that somewhere, someone had seen a little pari like my Nitu and he hadn’t thought about ‘park e ghora', 'catch catch khela’ or ‘ aloo kabli khawa’, instead he’d thought about ‘rape’, ‘hatred’ and ‘violence’. Humanity was g...
I used to look at the mirror for so long, They named me Narcissa While I looked for what was wrong Raven locks flowed down my back The perfect chin and dainty nose The swell of my breasts And the perfect pose Corsets and bows went on my body Like a prized possession I was kept They told me stories of the prince kissing While the princess slept One day I slashed my ribbons and left Fought a bear and a lion in it's cave Came back with a mighty scar on my face They told me my face was broken You say it looks ugly on me But would've called a man with this great Do you know it feels more like me than my Womanly waist ever did Finally my heart, my heart was able The fierce freedom of being alive Took me a while to realise The curve of my scar Is gentler than that my of chest Raven tresses flowed free in the wind My jagged scar in all it's glory I cut off my bosom and took a manly stride My body is finally holy - Soumita Chakraborty
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