Looking Back

      The little girl who rode her Dad’s shoulders
      Was happy and carefree as a toddler
      But then, she started being told right from wrong
      As she grew and the path of life she trudged on.

Insecurities and under confidence grew
as she learned there were things she couldn’t but her brother could do.
It was not for her to question why
That’s the way it’s always been so why cry?

Get a basic education and be married off
The home and hearth is where you’ll be better off
Don’t dream too big as you won’t see it through
Our society is male dominated and By God that’s true!

She wanted to protest but didn’t have the gall
To change the way people think was not her call.
She appeared meek and timid but within she rebelled
Waiting for an opportunity before her shackles she felled.

Lo and behold! Opportunity came her way
The introvert and insecure lass broke her chains away.
A few years down she was a medic on her feet
She donned the uniform and was an officer on beat.

She was now an officer who served the country
Gone was the timid and shy girl as she had confidence aplenty.
No one messed with her as she was a force to be reckoned
She went wherever duty called and services beckoned.
But alas, she forgot the words of her mother
It is a male dominated world
She came across the strong force of another
Who crushed her will and felled her world.

She hurt, cried and thought this was the end
But the rebel in her refused to bend
She was honest and upright and thought it enough
But it was not so and the going got tough.

She took her time to heal from the trauma she had faced
“Tomorrow is another day”, this needed grit and grace
She made many new friends along the way who helped her heal and mend
Like a phoenix she rose from her ashes, another path to wend.

Lessons learnt in healing and forgiveness
She now stands tall again
In gratitude to all her friends who cared and helped
Her feel complete and content.




Urvashi Tandon