Why was I born as a girl?

Does any girl still need to ask that question? The answer is yes!

April 2, 2011 -  I searched by the key-word " India" in the CNN website to check how they had reported India's Cricket World Cup victory, and was happy to see the video report from Alex Thomas - yes India was Shining! My search also brought up another article which didn't quite depict the same picture - the 2011 census reported an alarming drop in the percentage of girls among India's pre-schoolers. For every 1,000 boys aged up to 6 years old, the report counted 914 girls, a drop from 927 a decade ago - the lowest ratio since India gained independence in 1947, according to the preliminary census.

In this 21st Century, where human achievement culminates in a new peak every day, why are we still struggling with our own minds? Why can't the basics be set right?

Sharing a scribbling from my angry young woman days at Cotton College, Guwahati (1997)

               

I’ve been killed; before I was born,

Or was it just a word for you – abortion;

I've been poisoned, strangled, buried, drowned,

Born in twilight, never saw dawn

Or was it just a lightless night,

When grandma’s mind fed daddy’s might?

And when time came to look for a Man;

Throughout life, who would hold my hand

The demand came for a Maruti van

Cruelly mocking daddy’s turban

I kept his turban on his head

Hung from a fan, they found me dead

Or was it just a market gathering

Where son-sellers mocked my father’s offerings?

In my new house, to go where I was keen

I was welcomed with cans of kerosene

A stove had burst - newspapers reported

Or was it a scooter for which my husband lusted?

The world’s now a web

And as you glide through the skies

Why am I still in my nadiral hell?

Why don’t I hear the tolling of my Liberty bell?