Claiming Myself.

I have a mind of my own.
I breathe by myself-
I can pull a chair for my comfort-
Well, I can pull for yours too.

I don't need you
To tell me how beautiful I am.
Though, I can help you
In building up any self esteem
That you might have lost.

Here, let me tell you this-
I can walk on my own foot,
I can pay my own bills.
Know that doing all this
Will not make you
A Womanly Man
Or me-
A Manly Woman.

I am a woman,
A female.
You don't complete me-
We compliment each other-
But, I can survive without you.

I can do things on my own.
I can smile, jump, cry, frown-
Without your help.
I am a Woman-
Complete in myself.

The Black Wine

I had just begun to enjoy the party. My black dress had begun to slip off my shoulder due to the relaxed posture I had assumed. Nobody seemed to notice me. Well, no one noticed me. I knew it. I knew the bliss of oblivion. I re-adjusted my little black dress, scratched my leg and started playing with the rim of the wine glass that I had planned to stick to for the rest of the evening. I didn't want to be here. That night, I wanted to be somewhere else, be someone else. I didn't know who. I didn't know where. Probably out there on the streets under the yellow lights where my face was partly visible but shining. That always gave me a high. I could feel the glamour of standing under the yellow light- all alone, while at the same time, feel the doom of darkness. Wait. Darkness is not doom. Its bliss. Pure, unadulterated state of consciousness and individuality - That is darkness. I shoved away my intimacy with the Unknown and goaded myself to come down to the world of coloured lights, coloured water and coloured people. I gulped down my wine in one shot.I I knew that I inhabited darkness and I remained sane there - Just there. I got up to go to washroom to re-adjust my black dress. It seemed to fall perfectly over my figure now that I stood. I felt my curves, pinched myself and then got ready to explore my other relationship with darkness. I checked my phone. Durga was calling me. It was then I knew- where I wanted to be, with whom I wanted to be, what I wanted to be. And I left the party with one strap off my shoulder for Durga. That night, I grew intimate with darkness. And the yellow streetlight? That is Durga, you see.

Observatory.: Out in the open.

Observatory.: Out in the open.: Can I worship my body, Its curves and its lines- Can I not look at the statue, Upon which the tender Radha reclines. Can I have some flower...

Out in the open.

Can I worship my body,

Its curves and its lines-

Can I not look at the statue,

Upon which the tender Radha reclines.

Can I have some flowers for my own self-

Can I make an offering to my hands, my waist, my feet and my breasts?

Can I just use the lamp from the altar-

To look at my own body,

Where the society's honor rests?

Can I please be relieved of the veil and the vermilion-

Can I please cut my hair and shatter the bangles?

Can I please unbolt the door-

To get rid of the golden shackles?
I am not going to fold my hands

Nor shall I bow my head-

I am going to wander naked today-

Into the battlefield.