HER QUEST

I don't know why it took me such a long time to write something.....why I had written something like this....but then may be there is a quest that often remains unheard in a lot of relations burdened with marriage, family and society and what ensues is a gradual exploitation.
This poem is a cry to all those women shackled under the chains of physical exploitation to break free.....seek their freedom, whatever be the cost, for it is their own.....I hope I can reach out to someone in need!!!

HER QUEST

                                                                                                      - SAPTADEEP BASU (2012)

Thirty years by my side,

Another thirty I might just crawl by;

Locked up deep inside,

Was a fucking quest burning alight.

Ravaged my puny youth satiating your bored desires,

Your different positions which you proudly proclaimed your “emotions”;

Ramming me hard to prove you were a man,

If you could have survived the pain, I would have called you a “woman”.

My broken jaw testifies your love,

My battered body has served your need,

My swollen eyes still have its dreams,

When between my legs you satisfy your greed.

I want to rape your soul,

Feel the pleasure of seeing you bleed,

As I have been a million times,

Like a piece of flesh under the butcher’s knife.

I bloat like a corpse in your stinking piss,

To cleanse my soul of my nuptial deeds,

A naked facade that shall shame the heavens;

Was ready for you to plunder once again.

I lay beside you caressing your hair,

Slithering over your skin, but you didn’t care;

Held you down to devour it as you often wished,

Yet tonight, it simply caved in.

Locked deep inside, the quest still burnt alight,

Why I had let thirty years simply pass by?

I rubbed myself hard and felt the woman in ages,

Till I was wet in the flow of red.

***

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IROM WHO?

Heard about Anna Hazare, didn’t you? The household name of sacrifice and the toast of Indian media. Yes man, he is the famous Gandhian who has taken up our cause to fight against corruption. It took him a mammoth 97 hour long fast to make himself heard. Even though the government is yet to accede to his demand he still stands tall to fight. 15^th August is his final deadline to the thick skinned, utterly corrupted Indian government and then he moves for a fast unto death. Dude, he is a hero. The discussion continued for another 5 minutes or so.

Heard about Baba Ramdev? Man, are you kidding me! Who doesn’t know about the famous yogi? He has cure for everything from anorexia to baldness to heart disease. He was undemocratically evicted from Delhi and air lifted to Haridwar but that guy didn’t lose his faith. He fasted there too. He is an icon man. 

Well, but didn’t he ended his fast without any results? 

What else you expect.....You want him to die for this corrupted bunch of bureaucrats. See a living man can fight his battle another day. The debate rolled on for another half an hour.

Hey by the way, you are really quite an activist with your level of awareness. You have then definitely heard about Irom Chanu Sharmila?

 Irom who?

Yes that’s the question million of Indians must ask themselves today. Irom who? 

Without wasting any time on hero worshipping which we Indians are really fond of let me get straight into the statistics then. While Anna Hazare’s fast lasted for a mere 97 hours, Baba Ramdev’s ordeal stood for 9 days, in contrast Irom’s struggle is continuing for the past 10 years, 7 months and 10 days and is still counting. 

Did anyone said Irom who? 

Well then, while we made such a hue and cry over the Ramlila maidan incident, now coined as the Ravanlila incident, a spit on our democratic ideals; Irom Sharmila has been in and out of prison for the past 10 years.

What was she convicted for? 

She was convicted under Section 309 of the IPC, “attempt to commit suicide” and that too for the first time on the third day of her fast. But then some are pretty lucky to be let off the hook for the same crime committed. After all, India is a country of diversity isn’t it?

Well but seriously, that fasting period seems fabricated. I mean 10 years is not a joke!

Yeah it isn’t. Police has forcibly used nasogastric intubation to keep her alive.

What’s that?

Insertion of a plastic tube through the nose, past the throat and down into the stomach.

Bloody hell, dats inhumane, what’s she fighting for by the way?

To repeal the Armed Forces Special Power Act (1958).

Never heard of that buddy?

Cause you don’t face it in your everyday life. AFSPA has been imposed in Manipur and most of the Northeast since 1980. It allows the army to use force, shoot or arrest anyone without warrant on the mere suspicion that someone has committed or was about to commit a cognisable offence. The Act also prohibits any legal or judicial proceeding against army personnel without the previous sanction of the Central Government. On 2^nd November 2000, 10 civilians were brutally murdered in Imphal by the Assam rifles that triggered her fast which continues till this day.

But then who cares. It doesn’t affect India, isn’t it? No candle light marches, no slogan shouting in Jantar Mantar, no sms or e-mails to ignite passions, no celebrity endorsements, no red carpet welcome at the airport, no Guru to feed. And where are our 24x7 media centres? After all, it’s an obscure martial law in the jungles of north east right, not good enough to raise TRP’s in Indian mainland? And our politicians? Well, Manipur seats are too trivial to shift electoral balance in our massive nation.

Silence prevailed.

We departed but then a question lingered in our minds, how many more years will be wasted before we at least recognise,

 IROM WHO?

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Why should we support Anna hazare

There are very few moments in life when one can be an inseparable part of history. The variety of history that appeals to each one however may vary considerably. For some, it was Indias’s recent cricket world cup victory when throngs of youth devoured the streets for a victory march across every corner of the nation. For some it might be Babri masjid demolition or Godhra incident that divided our nation in two halves. For others it might be our Kargil victory over Pakistan. The incidents might cause a huge debate among the masses about the defining moments of our history which we were a part of. However, among all the events we were sometimes the silent, sometimes the elated or sometimes the saddened spectator. 

The moment that dawn on us today, calls us to play the role. The role of a historian, the role of a fighter, the role of a model citizen, the role of a human being. For once, we will determine the course of history. When Ambedkar drafted the Indian Constitution, never did he think that the protectors of it will be the people to make it naked to the bones. When Netaji, Bhagat Singh and others accepted death for our liberation, never did they think that the common Indians will again be ruled barbarically by their own. When the Mahatma fought for an independent idealistic India, never did he think that it would be papers with his image that would divide the country once again between India and Bharat.

All these years, we too were a creator of this cancerous state, sometimes giving bribes or sometimes taking it. But the moment for redemption is “NOW”.  The arrogance of the numerous corrupt governments lies infront of us. Our very constitutional right of expression lies in shambles today. Every penny that our blood and sweat earns is someone’s entertainment property. Otherwise who can explain the ballooned property of all the ministers? For once we should take a stand and not be the cheerleaders of a mega opera of our future. Let’s stand tall and united. Let’s support Anna Hazare and his group of fighters.  Let us all be a part of history written by us.

 Pl log on to http://www.indiaagainstcorruption.org/ & join the fight against corruption

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