Dr. Shikha celebrates womanhood. She remembers the sheroes, in this poem, exclusively for Different Truths.

A desperate Savitri defying the curse of death
Forced the unheeding Yam to revive dead Satyavan’s breath.
She left the royal throne and quietly followed Ram;
Drowning the city in tears Sita left Ayodhya Dham.
 
Nothing could stop Radha from the heady notes of that flute;
She’d rush to meet her Krishna when this love dart, he’d shoot.
Leaving her palace for Girdhar, Meera drank the cup of poison;
Dancing and singing in a frenzy she was seeking love’s new horizon.
 
She was Princess Draupadi, the Pandav’s only heartthrob…
Cared for by all who had lay their lives for her sob.
As the brave Padmini she tried to save her king;
Jumping in the fire of jauhar, did not let the enemy sting.
 
Only a Panna Dhai could give away her child
To save the cradled prince – Can loyalty be so wild?
Who has not heard the battle cry of Ahilya, Lakshmibai and many more?
Matangini, Sarojini or Kasturba – she is patriotic to the core.
 
Heroic in love and war – her deeds never end.
Inspiring tales each of them, our tender minds did bend.
Can’t the young girl of today have such a fiery mind
That would surpass the mundane and uphold womankind?

Visual by Different Truths

Dr. Shikha Chatterjee

Dr. Shikha Chatterjee is Assistant Professor in English in Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj, India. She is a trained vocalist in Indian classical music. Her interests include creative writing, painting, singing and travelling. She has collaborated with a renowned scholar of Hindi and Professor in the University of Naples, Italy, for a bilingual book,
Bhojpuri Loriki part-2 currently available in the U.S. Library of Congress.