I was born with little soft hands With big blue eyes you dream of Had silky brown hair With a touch of shine in them Got blue t-shirts as gifts And a lot many cars than teddy bears Mumma would scold me for not scoring Papa would hit me with his hand And then they would act as a team And take away my TV privileges I would storm into my room Only to hear loud voices outside And return to a little hustle bustle He would hit her for not being attentive "Tum toh ghar par rheti ho" She would blame her own negligence As a tear would roll down my cheeks They would team up to say "Ladki ho kya Jo ro rhe ho" I was conditioned and socialised Into accepting anger as my catharsis I was bashed for being fearful And praised for being courageous I was bullied for playing with the beads And rewarded for asking for videogames Baby sister was taught to ask for money I was taught to provide her with it It's my fault now you tell me Where in that is what you taught me
-Aayushi Mittal