Her father's dream was for her to get an education,
he sold his land in Ballia to pay her fees.
Her dream was to secure her family's financial future,
she worked hard and became a physiotherapist.
Fate had other plans. Wrong time, at the wrong place.
As the city slept on a cold December night,
she was being tortured, humiliated and violated.
They could injure and scar her body,
but not her hopes and dreams.
Fiercely she fought her battle,
"Mother, I want to live", said she.
Unbearable pain, she endured,
Unwavering strength, she showed.
Eventually, she bowed down to destiny,
13 days later, she left for her eternal abode.
A dream of a young girl aborted, quite painfully.
A dream of a father snatched away from him, so quickly.
Protests, vigils and candles, alighted the country.
Rage, disbelief and shock, soon turned to grief, tears and sorrow.
As dreams turned into a nightmare, A nation awakened, though late.
This is written in memory of the Delhi brave heart who was brutually gang raped on December 16, 2012. She succumbed to the injuries and left for her eternal abode on December 29, 2012. It was an incident that shook the nation and protesters lined the streets in every nook and corner of the country. According to statistics, every 20 minutes, a woman is abused in India. After the incident, awareness has increased and crimes are being reported and registered daily, yet we have a mammoth task left to do.
I and my sister studied in Bangalore and Trivandrum while our parents and extended family were in another country. We have taken early morning flights, long train rides and night bus journeys alone. To think, things could have gone wrong is a scary thought. Now, if my younger cousin sister wants to come back to India for her graduate studies, my family might think about it twice !
I hope and pray for a safe and secure India.
(I am taking part in The Write Tribe Festival of Words 8th – 14th December 2013. This is the seventh and final post in the 7 day series. I thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the festival)
Touching :')
It gave me goosebumps. I spent sleepless nights last year as all this happened and till date I cannot travel in a bus without a moment thinking about her.