Maa, Why can't I go out to play like the boys after dark?
Why should I layer myself with so many clothes in the heat?
Do I have to learn to cook, when my brother chills and enjoys the treat?
Why do you in the disguise of your 'pallu' hide your talent and spark?
Wait aren't those bites and bruises as though bit by a huge shark?
Why am I not allowed to work, why do my dreams take a backseat?
Why am I not an asset, but a liability in the family's balance sheet?
Why can't I be single and independent, but always live under a hierarch?

My child, I layer you with clothes and disallow you outings after sunset
Coz there are monsters around who don't distinguish between infant and adult
This patriarchal society we live in demeans a woman, undermining her worth
Under their misogyny and brute force, our dreams flow out like tears in pain 
We are the nurturers and life bearers, considered Goddess, but still treated as inferior
This male-dominated world doesn't know the value of someone as strong and beautiful as you.