Poem - Yes I am a Prostitute

Dragged out to the light

With hands shackled

And mind shattered !

It was a raid on the hotel

But was it a rob on her life!

Press gave their statements

And people,their judgements !

Her character was demeaned

Her culture,derogated

Her family,dishonoured

And she stood devastated

But one day

The frustrated heart had to speak up

“Where were all of you that day

When I stood with my child crying

And my husband's pyre burning?”

“Where were all of you those days

When I begged around for help

And returned with a hungry stomach

And a starving child?”

“Where were all of you that day

When I lost my sick child too

The day I lost everything that was mine ?”

“Where were all of you all those days

When I walked homeless

And I turned clueless?” 

“And one fine day you come,

The cultured good society,

To question me?”

“Yes I am a Prostitute

A mother again

And yes his father, unknown”

“Can you help a change?”

Silence remained

With only her footsteps heard !

  -   Nileena Thomas

Poem - Beyond a piece of cloth

May I be in burkha
Or may I be in shorts
Can any ensure me,
A lone walk in a safe night?

May I be an old
Or may I be an infant
Can any assure me
An escape from rapes?

And what do you blame?

The Deeper necks or smaller tops?
Longer slits or shorter skirts?
High heels or torn jeans?
Lipstick shades or tattooed arms?

Dear educated and uneducated conservatists,
Do realise
I am beyond a piece of cloth
In fact much beyond!

      - Nileena Thomas

Poem - IMAGE

I have always tried to see you,
At least a glimpse of you
When I take off my helmet,
Immediately I look for you
I go to washrooms,
Sometimes to look at you
When you smiled at me,
I have always returned the same
When you cried,
I never laughed
We are so similar,
Yet so different
Though I am what I am
You are what I wanna be
I lived in the society
But you lived in me
I am answerable to everybody except me
But you are answerable to none except you
I am chained to feel by my brains
But you are free to feel from your heart
When will that day arrive
When I and you could merge into one?
I cannot wait till my death
As there is no existence beyond
Neither can I be born again
As the clocks are accustomed
To turn clockwise
If not me, who can break
The mirror in between for us?

-Nileena Thomas   

Poem - AWAKENING DREAM

It was so real

 Her screams, her shouts The men, the mob

My chats, my calls

Their slaps, their smacks

  

Every moment I remember fresh

Every talk I recall precise

 Every scream I hear exact

Every move I see clear

Real, not just did it seem But real did it feel

Though not really was it real!!

She was harmed

And held were we But held by what?

Nobody knows what

Look did we, but just it, did we 

Pity did we, but just it, did we

Pained was she, though had it to be we 

Sole was she, though had it not to be 

Scream did she, stare did we

Cry did she, listen did we 

Hit did they, look did we

How could I? How could you? How could we?

If was she your sister

 If was she your mother                        

If was she your friend

If was she your girl

Would we have stayed back the same?

Though a disturbing dream

Yet a very questioning one

Only wondering how even in dreams

Did the crowd stay passive

Keeping the real reality of today's apart!!

    - Nileena Thomas 

POEM - The Adorable She

Pals lent her their sympathies
Medias, their exaggerations
Political figures, their promises
Public, their recognitions

Her mom, devastated she sat
And her dad, half dead

Out from the blue
Was she known everywhere
More infamous than famous !

For now was she gang raped
By a bunch of masked devils
Their identities unknown
Their lives uninterrupted
Walking free and unrecognized
Amidst all media’s hyped haul

Having tasted her body
With the least of her consent
Having torn her deep
With the least of humanity
Some wished for her to live
For they loved her
While some prayed for her to die
For they too loved her

Finally out from the ventilator
Ending the life death struggle
With life taking the lead
She breathes in consciousness

I held her palms in silence
And looked blank onto her eyes
Few minutes of talk
And walk out did I adoring her
For see did I
More life in her than me

Her words kept echoing in my head
“Inhuman the act
Horrifying the memories"
But live will I without an inch of regret.

They could  tear only my body
But failed to leave a scar on my soul
And not even a touch on my spirit!!”

-          NILEENA THOMAS

Poem - 2 - Aborted Foetus

Those congratulating calls
Those blessing showers
Their loving gestures
Though remembrance in vague
But enough to embrace in me
An excite to meet this world

But soon confused was I
On why the addressal of ‘he’ to me?
I kept telling them
I am a ‘she’
But only to go unheard !!

The bribed doctor broke their beliefs
For love to turn into loathe
I sobbed within
For I knew only days remained

No more in her womb
But they let me fall
Beneath this mud
For worms to feed on me

Before I died
I did realise
The unacceptable difference with me
That I was a SHE!

By an aborted fetus
A martyr of female foeticide

- Nileena Thomas    

Poem - Women

Who has downtrodden you?
Who has caused you sunk?
Who has held your freedom?
Who has drawn your arenas?

Nobody could even dare to
If you had dared to stand strong
If you had dared to remain unaltered
If you had dared to be yourself

Why didn’t you?

They bent you down
Not because you couldn’t stop them
But Because you chose to bend
However forced you were

They drew your boundaries
Not because you couldn’t decide
But because you let them
However helpless you were

They caged your freedom
Not because you didn’t know
where the key was
But because you
accepted to remain there
However worse the situation was

Why did you have to?
For what did you have to sacrifice
For what did you have to lose
For what did you have to give up
When you knew
This wasn’t what you wanted
When you knew
This wasn’t your happiness
When you knew
This would always remain your regret

Rise above, all the ladies
Wait no more

                  - Nileena Thomas 

ಕವನ – ಮಹಿಳೆಯರು

(ನಿಲೀನಾ ಥಾಮಸ್ ರವರ “ವುಮೆನ್” ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ಕವಿತೆ ಅನುವಾದವಾಗಿದೆ)

ತುಳಿದಿದ್ದಾರೆ ನಿಮ್ಮನ್ನಾರು?
ಬೀಳುಗಳೆದಿದ್ದಾರೆ ನಿಮ್ಮನ್ನಾರು?
ನಿಮ್ಮ ಸ್ವಾತಂತ್ರ್ಯವನ್ನು ಕಸಿದವರಾರು?
ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಣರೇಖೆಗಳನ್ನು ಹಾಕಿದವರಾರು?

ನೀವು ದೃಢವಾಗಿ ನಿಂತಿದ್ದರೆ 
ನಿಮ್ಮಂತೆಯೇ ನೀವಿರಲಿಚ್ಛಿಸಿದ್ದರೆ
ಬದಲಾಗಲು ತಿರಸ್ಕರಿಸಿದ್ದರೆ
ಸಾಹಸಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದರೆ ಯಾರಾದರೂ?

ಉಳಿಯಲಿಲ್ಲವೇಕೆ ನೀವು ಹಾಗೆ?

ತುಳಿದವರವರು ನಿಮ್ಮನ್ನು
ನಿಮಗದನ್ನು ತಡೆಯಲಾಗದ್ದಕ್ಕಲ್ಲ
ಒತ್ತಡ ತೀವ್ರವಾಗಿತ್ತೆಂದೂ ಅಲ್ಲ
ಬಾಗಲು ನೀವೇ ನಿರ್ಧರಿಸಿದಿರಿ

ನಿರ್ಧರಿಸಿದರು ನಿಮ್ಮ ಗಡಿಗಳನ್ನು
ನೀವೇ ನಿರ್ಧರಿಸಲಾಗದಕ್ಕಲ್ಲ
ಅಸಹಾಯಕರೆಂದೂ ಸಹ ಅಲ್ಲ
ನೀವೇ ಅದಕ್ಕನುವು ಮಾಡಿಕೊಟ್ಟಿರಿ

ಪಂಜರದಲ್ಲಿಟ್ಟರು ನಿಮ್ಮನ್ನವರು
ಕೀಲಿಕೈ ಎಲ್ಲಿತ್ತೆಂದು ಗೊತ್ತಿರಲಿಲ್ಲವೆಂದಲ್ಲ
ಅಸಹನೀಯ ಪರಿಸ್ಥಿತಿ ಎಂದೂ ಅಲ್ಲ
ನೀವೇ ಅಲ್ಲುಳಿಯಲು ನಿರ್ಧರಿಸಿದಿರಿ

ಉಳಿದಿರೇಕೆ ನೀವು ಹೀಗೆ?
ಯಾತಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಈ ತ್ಯಾಗ?
ಯಾತಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಈ ಸೋಲು?
ಕಾರಣವೇನು, ಎಲ್ಲ ಬಿಟ್ಟುಕೊಡಲು?
ನಿಮಗೆ ಗೊತ್ತಿದ್ದಾಗ
ಇದಲ್ಲ ನಿಮಗೆ ಬೇಕಿರುವುದೆಂದು
ನಿಮಗೆ ತಿಳಿದಿದ್ದಾಗ
ಇದು ನಿಮ್ಮ ಸಂತೋಷವಲ್ಲವೆಂದು
ನಿಮಗೆ ಅರಿವಿದ್ದಾಗ
ಜೀವನವಿಡೀ ನೋವುಳಿಯುವುದೆಂದು

ಸೋದರಿಯರೇ, ಸಹಿಸಬೇಡಿರಿನ್ನು
ಎಲ್ಲ ಕಟ್ಟುಗಳ ಮೀರಿರಿನ್ನು
ಮುಕ್ತವಾಗಲು ಕಾಯಬೇಡಿರಿನ್ನು!!

  -   ಸುಧಾ ಜಿ