In this woman-centric poem, Neelam praises Ravana for his strong character, exclusively for Different Truths.
O Ravana! I bow to you!
With your sword’s might
And your valour’s mysticism,
You could have forced Sita for anything,
And yet, to treat her with respect you opted,
Gave her a choice to decide
And venerated her “No”!
O Ravana! So different you were!
It’s just that the times were also atypical
And despite the innocence of Sita,
Chastised she was,
Even by her husband own,
And, to live a life in exile, forced-
People blamed you for her condition,
No one impugned Ram!
O Ravana! How happy I would be
To see you come back to earth now!
The land, in tatters lies,
And women are not respected anymore-
Her “No” is most often not treated as a “No”
And no one honours her now by asking
If she desires something!
Photo from the Internet
Neelam Saxena Chandra, Additional Divisional Railway Manager, Pune, has authored 4 novels, 1 novella and 6 short story collections, 31 poetry collections and 13 children’s books. She holds a record with the Limca Book of Records, 2015 for being the Author having the highest number of publications in a year in English and Hindi. She has won several international and national awards. She was listed in Forbes as one of the popular authors in 2014.
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