Women Issues

Acid Attacks and Rhetoric of Love

                     

                                              Sudha Arora

Preeti Rathi , the victim of a heinous acid attack , passed away on June 2 after battling between life and death for a month . Like Damini before her, will her death too prove to be a wake-up call for our society? Our ineffective and delayed system of justice only serves to encourage potential attackers and criminals who think they can commit crimes with impunity. Is an acid attack any less of a crime than an instance of murder ? This death once again raises several questions for our law and justice system, which need to be confronted head on. 

Preeti Rathi , a nursing graduate from Delhi had landed from Delhi by Gareeb Rath Express where some unknown assailant threw acid on her face. The attacker patted on her shoulder from behind and as she turned, he threw acid on her face. No one could  catch him even in such a crowded place and he succeeded in escaping. 25 year old Preeti Rathi had stepped in Mumbai for the first time to join Aswini , her first job with Army hospital . Her  statements later published in the newspaper, though full of grief at her current plight, also emphasised the centrality of the means of livelihood to a woman’s life. Even when she was battling for her life, her first  thought on gaining consciousness was  about her job , safety of her younger sisters and to assure parents not to take tension and eat properly . Before slipping into  unconsciousness  She scribbled on a paper not to shift her to a bigger hospital as it would be expensive . That was the last conversation she had with her father  and shows her concern for her parents who come from middle class society .

A violent environment

Violence against women is often masked in a rhetoric of love. Men justify their act of disfiguring the woman as springing from her refusal to reciprocate their love. Love has always been present in the human life since time immemorial. However ‘Acid- attack’ was not known to be the mode of revenge in cases of failed love affairs . Even earlier, thousands of hearts must have been broken and thousands must have remained sad and depressed for long time. However such vicious and violent environment was never there even though the society at that time was much more conservative and stratified on the basis of caste and religion. But today the situation is exactly the opposite. Today, not only is the concept of platonic relationship  missing , this generation demands instant gratification of desire.  Along with the increasing trends of co-education and modernisation  there is an increasing awareness among the girls about their own life and the decision making power. However exactly opposite to this, there is a growing resentment amongst the boys towards this development in girls. Today, where girls are coming out as winners in every field of life, there is an increasing sense of opposition and intolerance among the boys towards the achievements of the girls. The girls are asserting their independence in  matters  such as career, love and marriage. It is this attitude of the girls which the boys find most threatening. 

As long as women did not gather the courage to say ‘No’, it was fine with society, women remained vulnerable and exploitable and society could maintain its status quo. Despite all the education and sophistication, a woman’s confidence to reject a man’s ‘proposal’ is still the most ‘humiliating’ experience for a man .

If we go back by 25-30  years, the incidences such as acid-attacks were not known to be taking place. It is worth thinking why they are happening today. One of the reasons may be that the male is not conditioned to hearing ‘No’ from a woman. The violence is the revenge caused by the intolerance of being rejected . Any boy expressing ‘Love’ or a man demanding ‘Sex’ considers it as a grave insult and wants to take revenge. 

In view of such ever-increasing ‘threats’ to women’s life in society — and they are bound to grow as women progress and some men are unable to cope with these changes, it has to be dealt with utmost seriousness. We need to delve deeper as to why such incidents are being repeated despite new changes in the law, that now defines acid attack as a crime. With every nationwide protest to an incident of rape and murder we optimistically presume that this would be the last. However even before we take another breath, there is another such occurrence mocking our systems and mindsets

Reality of Violence

We should not forget that in India , Visual Media - Cinema influences the attitudes and the mindset of the general public to a great extent. The Nineties was the phase of free market and Liberalisation . In the beginning of this phase , came certain films  from Hollywood where a scared and terrorised woman evokes excitement and pleasure in the viewer.  Bollywood was so influenced by  characters such as Julia Roberts in ‘Sleeping with the enemy’, that several Hindi Films were produced on  similar concepts. Most of these films were Box-office hits . A number of Bollywood films  such as Bajigar, Dar, Anjam, Agnisakshi etc used and expanded the jargon of converting the emotion of Love into Violence and despite all the evil elements of a villain, the male lead in these films were successful in gaining sympathy from the viewers. Although at the end he was shown dying but the audience did feel the pain of his death. Even his death was glamourised.  If Shahrukh Khan expresses the height and depth of his love for Juhi Chawla by terrorising her  then why cannot a common person express his  love in such a manner?. This is how there has been considerable increase in the slogans such as ‘I Have Killer Instinct’ , ‘ Keep Calm and hit her ’ ‘ Keep Calm and rape them ’or other similarily negative prints on t- shirts . We are familiar with the graffiti going berserk flashing unprintable and the four letter word prominently flashed , viewed to be a sign of being ‘cool’. The Tshirts were designed in an Australian garment factory but the after effects were felt more in Asian countries ! The cultural cross- currents bring their own debris along and each society has to be careful about what to choose and what to reject !

Gender-specific violence

A few months back , a documentary ‘Saving face’ based on the female victims of acid-attacks in Pakistan was awarded the Oscar in the year 2012 . Also, it was a memorable experience to watch the girl from Jamshedpur, a victim of an acid-attack, coming to occupy the hot-seat on the program KBC. By bringing the narratives of these victims into public spaces, these programs highlighted the fact that the root of such innumerable acts of gender-specific violence lies in the male dominated, hierarchical and regressive capitalism of our society. These stories are not mere statistics but an indicator of the cancerous social malaise of our society. Inspite of being granted equality by the constitution, we have been unable to rise above the parochial divisions of sex, caste and religion. Truly speaking we have failed  to become Indian in the real sense , becoming a universal human being is a distant dream.

It is worth considering if the media is playing its role with conviction or just pandering to market forces . Media  perpetuates damaging stereotypes of womanhood . How long will our glossy women magazines, ignoring their moral responsibility,  continue to write about ways and means of looking sexy in a society where every day a child-girl is raped and acid is thrown on the faces of young girls . Instead of questioning the blatant commodification of women, the media is often guilty of glorifying their objectification.

The insensitive attitude of the police makes headlines almost everyday . The culprits are able to influence them through money and muscle power, and the woman looses the battle yet again. The way several influential people and politicians manage to escape  legal actions against them for various heinous crimes boosts the morale of common criminals.

To reduce the incidence of  such crimes, a sizeable section of the society is demanding  imposition of strict rules. However, we need to give it a serious thought that if our political, cultural and economic system is  encouraging misogyny at the social level then mere legal system cannot help much in getting rid of such evil tendencies. 

Insufficient Law

The Criminal Law Amendment Bill-2013 defines acid attack as a separate Indian Penal

Code offence and proposes punishment of not less than 10 years to a maximum of life imprisonment for perpetrators and fine that could go up to Rs.10 lakh.

The new law has only increased the punishment for perpetrators, it does not have provisions to aid acid attack victims who have to live with not just the physical disfigurement but also psychological scars and social ostracisation . A separate law is needed to tackle the crime of  acid- attacks, including ban on easy sale of nitric

and sulphuric acid, available for Rs.30 a bottle. Also the new law makes no mention of concrete solutions such as insurance plan or long-term and proper medical care for the victims.

Crime and Punishment

Acid is one of the cheapest, most easily available and yet deadly weapons to take someone's life. A bottle costs only thirty rupees, and can be lethal. Victims who survive an acid attack go through severe mental trauma and feelings of terror and inadequacy for the rest of their lives. However, the attacker is not tried by the courts as a murderer would be, and faces a maximum sentence of five to ten years imprisonment, and a fine between two to ten lakh rupees. Compared to this, the victim may have to spend upto thirty lakh rupees for plastic surgery of her disfigured face. While the victim often has to live with her disfigured appearance and is shunned by society, the attacker gets away with a light sentence and modest fee, and returns to the same society with his reputation and status intact. 

The first need of the hour is to immediately put a restriction on the open sale of acid. Secondly, an attack like this which inflicts severe physical, mental and societal trauma on an innocent victim should be treated on par with attempted murder. All other Asian countries have already taken steps in this regard. 

In Bangladesh, after the Acid Control Act 2002 and Acid Crime Prevention Act 2002 put a restriction on the sale of acid, the incidents of such crimes have dropped down by 75%.

India seems to be lagging behind. Our courts still do not regard acid attacks with the same gravity as murder. How many disfigured faces and destroyed lives of young, innocent girls will it take for our courts to wake up and take some concrete steps to prevent such crimes and treat the attackers with the severity of punishment that they deserve?

                                                                                                    sudhaarora@gmail.com

Women Issues

The violence of silence

SUDHA ARORA

I am a 62-year-old housewife. My name is Trisha. It hardly matters what my name is. What does matter is that I was a singer with a bachelor’s degree in music and a music teacher in a reputed college. After my marriage with two kids in four years, I had to leave my job as my husband wanted me to take care of our kids. From a stage singer, I reduced myself to a bathroom singer.

My husband always used to shout at me for no specific rhyme or reason. Once when I was sobbing, my son said, “Why are you crying? At least Papa doesn’t beat you up!” Later, he told me that his best friend’s father would beat up his wife, so it was okay if Papa just shouts and does not raise his hand.

I developed high B.P., thyroid problems and peptic ulcer. I knew something in me was dying. At the age of 45, I felt like singing and started my riyaz. One evening, in a fit of anger, my husband broke my tanpura.

Now, for the last two years, I live alone. I am happy and enjoying the music I lost in that homemaker’s journey. My sons stand with me. I have started taking music classes at home. I wish I had realised my worth earlier but better late than never.

In most women’s organisations, ‘sexual violence’ or domestic violence gets great publicity. However, ‘mental torture’ or emotional abuse is not as prominent because other forms of harassment are ‘visible’, easily detectable and identifiable.

In my 15 years of counselling, we did not handle a single case of ‘mental torture’, a complex, painful, and unrecognised form of abuse that has no visible solution. A strategy of silence and non-communication is a form of violence. Rarely is the victim able to identify the problem and so it is all the more difficult for a third party to intervene.
Certain social, psycho-social and economical issues are involved. In India, a boy grows up internalising patriarchal views of male superiority. When he fails to acquire the desired status or prominence in his career, he compensates by trying to control his domestic life.
Another situation occurs when he enjoys a high status at work along with the sycophancy that accompanies it. The problem arises when he is unable to leave behind the ‘halo’ and ‘aura’ of the workplace. As a result he tortures his wife finding a sadistic pleasure in crushing her personality.

 

Constant compromise

Generally these couples appear to be very happy and fulfilled because women from comparatively conservative backgrounds gradually learn to adjust to every kind of environment. It has been deeply ingrained in her that a woman must learn to compromise.
When the woman gets used to the shouting and screaming, she does not see it as torture. When unable to identify her problem, how and to whom can she describe it? Over time, she begins to believe herself lacking and unworthy. And her self-esteem takes a nosedive.
If she raises the issue the response usually is “What has he done wrong?” Because there is no physical violence, everyone fails to recognise the damage caused by silent negligence or verbal abuse.
There is one significant difference between mental torture and physical violence. The aggressor in the latter case knows he has done wrong. The situation is just the opposite in the case of mental torture. Because the husband does not raise his hand or leave scars on her body, he does not bear the burden of guilt. Such men have a split personality.
As well-known writer Mannu Bhandari wrote about her celebrated writer husband in her autobiography: “As such there is a private and public face of every person… I do not know how many people are even aware of two aspects of their personality but Rajendra (Yadav) seems to be almost obsessed with it. The reason too is quite clear because there is such a vast difference between these forms (Rajendra is quite conscious about it) that the people familiar with his external form would never even believe that there is another person deep inside his personality which is extremely cruel, hardened, almost inhuman. This aspect of his personality has been borne by those who have been living under the illusion of being loved by him.”

Stress-related ailments

This kind of unidentified stress gives rise to a number of physical ailments. Some women suffer from asthma while others suffer from indigestion or acidity leading to unexplained loss of appetite and weakness. Piles, ulcers in the stomach, sinus, migraine all result from the negative effect of mental stress. Some women suddenly feel breathless and worry that they have a weak heart. Many opt for expensive investigations and tests but are disappointed when the results are normal. They are unable to link the cause of their sicknesses to mental stress or neglect.
Counselling a victim of mental torture is difficult. Rarely do outsiders come face-to-face with the man’s actual personality that the woman has been dealing with. Firstly such men never visit counselling centres even when called. When they do they wear the mask of being socially well placed and cultured. They insist that it is the wife who needs to change her attitude. Or they keep mum trying to project the opposite image of that projected by the woman.

Dealing with it

A woman needs to choose her own strategy to deal with mental violence. It is not enough to attribute it merely to her husband’s nature or environment or his traditional upbringing. It is also important to recognise and define the frustrations caused by this lack of communication. Economic independence does not succeed fully in changing this kind of violence, but it certainly enhances a woman’s decision-making power. Many equations change due to economic independence.
The first and most important thing is attaching maximum importance to the woman’s own existence or individuality. In Indian society, the happiness or sorrow of a woman does not depend on her own mood. It is determined by the expression on her husband’s face. The day she understands that her life and moods also have value or when she builds her own independent space, she will acknowledge her control over herself and things start improving.
People today often look down on a divorcee. Older women think it is better to suffer the excesses of one man and stay under his guardianship. In fact many do not even believe in an equal and loving marital relationship. Times have changed. Not every woman stays quiet forever. They have begun to recognise the phenomenon of ‘Silent violence’ or ‘mental harassment’. They have started exhibiting the courage to come out of it. They have begun to nurture their lost self-respect and existence.


                                                                               From -- The Hindu 30.03.2008

 

Some tactics

·        Isolate a woman from her friends, family, cultural or faith community, care providers .

·        Prevent her from being independent, not letting her take up a job .

·        Act jealous or possessive, accuse a woman of having affairs .

·        Criticise a woman constantly .

·        Threaten, intimidate, harass, or punish a woman .

·        Make all decisions in the family, withhold information and refuse to consult her or about important matters

·        Control the money, not allow a woman access to financial resources or conversely not contribute to household expenses.

Under a cloud of abuse  

As someone who suffered abuse throughout a 15-year marriage and beyond, I would like to share what I believe to be some sure signs of emotional abuse. My partner attacked my very soul using words and mannerisms that caused much pain and suffering. Over time, he systematically eroded my self-confidence and self-worth and created hurt so deep I could no longer bear his presence in my life.

My partner never took responsibility for his own actions. He blamed me incessantly, even for his own abusive behaviour. He created constant power struggles with me over everything. He controlled my actions and undermined my dignity before our kids and his family members.

 

Constant humiliation

At his hands, I was subjected to insults, put-downs, shouting, threats and sarcasm. I was criticised, humiliated, intimidated and given ultimatums. He isolated me from my family members and also friends. Sometimes, he disguised his snide or cutting comments as humour. I found that even his subtlest comment could hurt me as much as his stronger, more denigrating statements. He typically ended by accusing me of provoking his abuse or telling me that I deserved it.

My partner was also secretive and dishonest with me. He would lie and withhold information about important issues such as our financial affairs. Often he made plans or commitments affecting both of us, without my knowledge or consent, and refused to answer my questions. Typically, my partner would not communicate with me without being abusive, and would never listen to me. He was intolerant of any opinions that differed from his own. Moreover, his constant accusations and dogmatic way of speaking always made me feel like an unequal, rather than equal participant.
I learned the hard way that living under a cloud of emotional abuse affects one’s health and well being. I made many attempts to alert him to how his words and actions made me feel. Sadly, he rejected them all. He became deeply entrenched in denial over his own abusive behaviour. He was convinced that I was to blame for his inability to relate to the children and me in a loving, accepting and non-abusive way. Eventually, I saw that I would never be able to end the cycle of abuse and the anguish it brought me and my children, and I began to implement my options for breaking free.

Warning

I want to warn all women who face emotional abuse, please don’t go through it silently. Share your feelings with trusted people and well wishers who can help. When you notice any signs, react and act wisely. To face any kind of abuse you should not be economically dependent and should have strength and courage to discuss this issue. Confrontation is a must to solve this problem. Don’t hesitate and hide your emotions under the traditional household mask. In more severe situations approach helpline hotlines and women’s organisations.

                   The right to live with dignity              

INDIRA JAISINGH

The Act redefines the content of domestic violence, from the point of view of the abused, not the abuser.

---

We have often been asked: what was the need for a new law on domestic violence? Did we not have enough laws on the subject?To understand the issue, one needs to have a clear idea of the role of law in society. First and foremost, it is a declaration of official policy of the state, translated into legal entitlements. It sets norms for behaviour; in that respect it has a normative role to play. The State, in a manner of speaking, is indicating the behaviour expected from citizens in their domestic relationships.

Protecting women

This new law, The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005, protects, as the title says, women facing violence in domestic relationships. This is not limited to matrimony alone, but also includes relations in the nature of marriage, between brothers and sisters and mother and some who live in a common shared household.
Most importantly, the law contains a declaration that it has been made to protect the rights of women under Article 14 and Article 15 of the Constitution of India, to equality and non-discrimination and under Article 21, to life and liberty. This brings us to the question, what is the content of these rights? If anything, they must mean the right to live with dignity and free from violence.
The critical definition that the Act provides for the first time is the definition of domestic violence. It is here that the violence of silence becomes relevant. Domestic violence is described as an act of “omission or commission”. Omissions cause as much heartburn as acts of commission. Since the mandate of the Act is to protect the dignity of the woman, it must cover acts of violence beyond physical violence, and this is the critical breakthrough made by the Act.
The act of omission or commission may be physical, mental, sexual or verbal and emotional abuse. A known form of emotional abuse is social boycott or withdrawing from the society of the person with whom you are in a relationship, with the intention of causing emotional pain, normally, a form of blackmail, intended to get your own way or make the other person succumb to an unreasonable or unlawful demand. .
Another form of violence may be withdrawal from sex. Women after all are not supposed to demand sex, only consent to sex, particularly in marriage. All these are not considered forms of violence. However, the law has its limits and no law on earth can make a person talk to another or compel sex. In such situations, the Act provides for the relief of compensation.
The Act redefines the content of domestic violence, from the point of view of the abused, not the abuser. Defining solves half the problem, if done rightly. For a country that used non-violence as a form of protest and fight for justice, it is surprising that we have lived for so long with very limited concepts of violence, mainly physical violence. Women have not been taken seriously unless they break an arm or a leg, or committed suicide.

Implementation

The implementation of the law is, however, in the hands of the judiciary. No definition can guarantee relief, no matter how explicit it is. The judge can always find a way around it. The true guarantee against domestic violence is the internalisation of the norm of respect or dignity of the other of a progressive judiciary which lives in the 21st century literally and metaphorically and does not throw back to the stereotype of the ‘Indian woman” the ever suffering devoted sati savitri, to be worshiped. After all, who communicates with a sati savitri, except in a temple?

INDIRA JAISINGH
The writer is a well known Supreme Court lawyer and women’s activist

Tarabai Chawl

 

Sudha Arora

It was the fourteenth day since the death of that childless, “barren” woman’s thirty-eight year old husband.

0     0

After her bath as she wiped herself with her wrung petticoat she glanced at the mirror. She wiped its dust off with her moist hands.

     She started at the sight of this stranger. Probably weeks, months, years since she saw herself in the mirror.

    When was the last time? Before her marriage, maybe, in the fifth standard, when she would tie a ribbon in her hair for school. Today, it was like looking in the mirror for the first time. When she braided her hair, her eyes would see only the fingers working at her hair; while wearing ear-rings she would only see her ears. Today, she pieced together all these scattered images and recognized her face, for the first time.

     The mirror was dirty and small. She lifted herself on her toes and slowly removed the cloth from her wet body. She had never seen herself naked below the neck in the mirror before. Suddenly, she felt the ground beneath her turning into quicksand, pulling her in by the feet. She held her head in her hands and shut her eyes slowly giving in to the sand. She let herself sink… further and further down, until the grains of sand touched her lips, and her heart leapt out of her body. Finally, she collected herself, took a deep breath, and felt her heart beating under her left breast. She pulled out of the quicksand, felt the ground firm beneath her feet once more, and released her breast. Her quivering fingertips were now caressing the various old and new wounds on both sides of her breasts. There were dark, black scars and the dried flakes of skin leaving behind tiny pits on its tender skin. The newest wound was fifteen days old, when her husband, as was his habit after sex, had taken the last drag of his bidi and stubbed it out on her left breast. She had screamed in pain, while he showed his tobacco-stained teeth in a grotesque smile. Before she could wrench herself away the stub had burned itself into her skin. She whimpered in pain and twisted his right arm, but he only laughed louder. To scar her with his bidi or cigarette when and where he pleased was his favourite pastime.

     “Let leprosy strike your body; let no one offer you water in your dying breath” the curses would rain from her mouth but he would have turned his back on her already snoring. The whole room would echo his snores. Tears would well up her eyes. There was no difference between his laughter and his snores.

And on the day of the Byculla local train disaster, when his mangled body was brought home she couldn’t believe her eyes. The raindrops seeping through the ceiling were splattering on his lifeless body. His frayed, colourless shirt was hanging on a peg in one corner of the room. His booming snores were still trapped in the walls. Last night’s fresh burn on her breast was now throbbing with pain. All the wounds in her body seemed to come to life now. She started bawling violently not knowing whether she was crying for her wounds or at the death of her husband.

      Amidst the dripping rain and her flowing tears she didn’t know when the  body was taken away. She took off her black mangalsutra and kept it aside. After four days she started going for work.

On returning from work, the room seemed vast and empty. The dreams which had populated it in the past, the sound of tiny knees crawling along the rough floor, the memories attached to the things scattered around the room, now hid in its corners and made it appear possessed. This very room had sometimes felt too small for the two of them, when they would collide into each other like a crowd or shun each other. Now even her days felt longer. She would return from work and swab the floor incessantly but a peculiar smell seemed to have stuck to it like eternity and would not let go. Exhausted, she would lie on the cot at night, and the trapped snores would descend from the walls and the ceiling and lie down beside her, her husband’s merciless laughter would seep through the roof like pouring raindrops. A fresh wound would burn her breast like a jet of boiling water, and she would wake up with a start.

She started keeping aside all her husband’s things out of her sight. The bottle of cheap country liqour was put outside the door and the shirt hanging on the peg was thrown under the cot with all the other clothes. The old mirror which had been put away in a corner of the room, was taken out and hung on the peg. Now she would frequently catch herself in it, even if she did not intend to.

     She looked in the mirror as she felt the wound on her breast and slowly peeled the black dried skin. Glistening drops of blood started brimming from the wound. She had mistakenly thought that her old wounds had dried, but beneath the dried skin they were still wet . She soaked the blood into the wet petticoat , covered the mirror with it and moved away.

     Now fully clothed, she saw tiny cockroaches crawling on to his toothbrush, which had been lying on a crevice of the broken window for fourteen days. Close to it was the empty packet of cigarettes. As she was crumpling it to throw away she noticed the last cigarette in the box.

     She lit the cigarette and took one drag of it, imitating her husband. One more drag. And then another. Like a woman possessed, she stubbed the dwindling piece of cigarette into her stomach. As the burning ashes touched the soft skin of her stomach she let out a sharp cry that filled the room and reached the ceiling. Tears were brimming in her eyes. Suddenly the sorrow welled up in her and she burst into hopeless tears.

       After a while, when she had cried out her pain, she grew silent. She glanced at the cot through blurred eyes. The foggy image of her husband was sitting there, shaking his legs, the grotesque smile on his face clear as a mirror…

Translated by --Garima Bhatia &  Menaka Rao

मैं किसकी औरत हूं

मैं किसकी औरत हूं

                                                  

मैं किसकी औरत हूं

कौन है मेरा परमेश्वर

किसके पांव दबाती हूं

किसका दिया खाती हूं

किसकी मार सहती हूं ...

ऐसे ही थे सवाल उसके

बैठी थी जो मेरे सामनेवाली सीट पर रेलगाड़ी में

मेरे साथ सफ़र करती

उम्र होगी कोई सत्तर - पचहत्तर साल

आंखें धंस गयी थीं उसकी

चेहरे पर थे दुख के पठार

थीं अनेक फटकारों की खाइयां

सेचकर बहुत मैंने कहा उससे

'मैं किसी की औरत नहीं हूं

मैं अपनी औरत हूं

अपना खाती हूं

जब जी चाहता है तब खाती हूं

मैं किसी की मार नहीं सहती

और मेरा परमेश्वर कोई नहीं '

उसकी आंखों में भर आई एक असहज ख़ामोशी

आह ! कैसे कटेगा इस औरत का जीवन !

संशय में पड़ गयी वह

समझते हुए सभी कुछ

मैंने उसकी आंखों को अपने अकेलेपन के गर्व से भरना चाहा

फिर हंसकर कहा ' मेरा जीवन तुम्हारा ही जीवन है

मेरी यात्रा तुम्हारी ही यात्रा

लेकिन कुछ घटित हुआ जिसे तुम नहीं जानतीं -

हम सब जानते हैं अब

कि कोई किसी का नहीं होता

सब अपने होते हैं

अपने आप में लथपथ

अपने होने के हक़ से लक़दक़'

यात्र लेकिन यहीं समाप्त नहीं हुई है

अभी पार करनी हैं कई और खाइयां फटकारों की

दुख के एक दो और समुद्र

पठार यातनाओं के अभी और दो चार

जब आख़िर आएगी वह औरत

जिसे देख तुम और भी विस्मित होओगी

भयभीत भी शायद

रोओगी उसके जीवन के लिए फिर हो सशंकित

कैसे कटेगा इस औरत का जीवन फिर से कहोगी तुम

लेकिन वह हंसेगा मेरी ही तरह

फिर कहेगी-

'उन्मुक्त हूं देखो ,

और यह आसमान

समुद्र यह और उसकी लहरें

हवा यह

और इसमें बसी प्रकृति की गंध सब मेरी हैं

और मैं हूं अपने पूर्वजों के  शाप और अभिलाषाओं से दूर

पूर्णतया अपनी'

                                                       -- सविता सिंह