THE INDIAN GIRL CHILD:DR. BADRI RAINA

I am the Indian girl child,
I am my father's pride;
I wash, I mend, I blow the hearth,
While my brothers go seek and hide.

As the nation forges far ahead,
I scrub the country's floor;
I pray, I fast, I long to see
My brothers eat more and more.

When viral burns my well-fed frame,
I require no tablet,
For my brother needs that I mother be
While he learns his alphabet.

I am sent to another house,
For labour is scarce;
Should my dowry unpleasing be,
I gladly assume the hearse.

Thus, all in all, I rule the roost,
I am goddess everywhere;
I suffer worship and abuse
With matchless wear and tear.

But all that I have said above
Depends upon the help
That sex-test probe kills me not
First in the womb itself!

Dr. Badri Raina, Professor of English at the Delhi University, writes on cultural and political issues.

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