I am a woman.

Yes! I am a woman. I cry when I feel like, I smile when I feel like. I am made beautiful, some poets make metaphor and simile out of my smile and some perverts spoil it.

Yes! I am a woman. I am made to conceive a child in my womb, only that is my caste and religion. If I am born of a Hindu father then I belong to Hinduism. I will have to keep quiet no matter what; I will have to follow purdah from my in-laws (male ones), I will have to get married to a nice Hindu man so that my kids can also be called Hindu. I will have to mourn the death of my in-laws more than the death of my own parents; because after marriage it is necessary that I erase all my past relations from my mind and people think it is too easy only because I am a woman. Yes! I am woman.  After marriage I will have to apply vermillion on my head to prove my virginity and to prove the fact that I only belong to the man I got married to (its same as one has a copyright over his/her products). I am supposed to bear at least one healthy male child otherwise I am incomplete. As male progeny provides the golden ladder and the way to go to heaven. Yes! I am a woman. If I am a Brahmin (or if my father is a Brahmin) then my male siblings goes through upnayana sanskar to be called a Brahmin but for me there is no sanskar as such. If I get married to a Brahmin I become one, if I get married to a Muslim then I become one etc etc.

“The God of the Bible decrees that woman must submit to the dominance of man”. Bible says I will have to submit to man.

Judaism says Woman depended on men economically. Woman generally did not own property except in the rare case of inheriting land from a father who didn't bear sons. Even "in such cases, woman would be required to remarry within the tribe so as not to reduce its land holdings."

Shariya says                                                                                                                             

A man can marry an infant girl and consummate the marriage when she is nine years old .My clitoris should be cut. I can have one husband but a man can have up to four wives. A man can unilaterally divorce me but I need my husband's consent for divorce. A man can beat me for insubordination. Testimonies of four male witnesses are required to prove rape against me. I cannot testify against my rapist in court.  My testimony in court, allowed only in property cases, carries half the weight of a man's. I can inherit half of what a male heir inherits. I cannot drive a car, as it leads to fitnah (upheaval). I cannot speak alone to a man who is not my husband or relative. Yes! I am a woman. I let my husband walk seven steps ahead of me always.

Khap panchayat bans me from wearing jeans; it bans me from marrying the man I want to marry. They think that I am whole and sole reason for the increasing incidents of rape and molestation.

I am a woman. I also want to breathe free, if I am a rape victim then till death I am a rape victim. I will always be called “the woman who was raped”. If I am a divorcee then I will always be called “the woman who got divorce”. If I have too many male friends then I will always be called “the woman who slept with all”. If look beautiful then it is underlined that I am a slut. I do not have a caste. I do not have a religion, any country any place; I will remain being a woman. Any religion any caste, each and every rule applies to me and the irony is in some religion people worship me and do not allow me to worship goddess form of me If I am menstruating. The mother of all ironies is that if a goddess menstruates then even her blood is worshipped. If I became bald no one will marry me but I will have to marry some bald rich brat if my parents wants me to, if I became fat then that will be the talk of the society but if some obese dishonest government servant (who is a male) comes to the same society to meet his parents then he is treated as god. If I do not respect my elders then my mother is abused if my male sibling does so then they say he is very naughty. If I cannot bear a child then I am incomplete but if a man is impotent then no one points a finger on him.

Yes! I am a woman. People want me to study gain higher education and get a decent job, so that I can get a decent man to marry. People want me to learn how to cook, how to do house hold work, only because I can keep my man happy. I need to satisfy my man physically, mentally, emotionally, but what about my satisfaction?(does that even exist?)

Yes! I am a woman. I have the capacity to forgive all, and I have been doing so since time immemorial, but nothing in this universe is limitless. Yes! I am a woman and I want to know about myself for the time being, I want to make myself understand the meaning of freedom. I want to regain trust on myself. I want to break all the rules which are only made for me. If I have the capacity to regenerate, does that mean that I should be caged. Before being anything (Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Jew, Christian) I am a woman.

Yes! I am a woman, and I am too tired of boundaries. Yes! I am a woman and I am tired of taking care of others. Yes! I am a woman and I need to b taken care of. Why cannot I walk in empty streets when its half past 12 at night? Why cannot I take my own decisions? Why I have no caste no religion? Why am I treated as an untouchable?

Yes! I am a woman. And I just need a helping hand and I will take care of everything else….

Yes! I am a woman. Period