A woman-centric poem by Mitali, wherein she talks of women from Indian and Western mythologies. A Special Feature for International Women’s Day.

Each garden weaves a new story.
The garden where I was born,
had roses that bloomed between
thorns. There was a garden where

Sita waited to be rescued, chaste,
hoping she remained un-raped.
Why? Did she not know of Kali who
killed demons when men failed?

Could Kali ever be made
unchaste by the fear of rape?
In that garden, Sita waited for
the man who worshipped Durga

to win a war. The same rescuer
abandoned her for vox populi.
Yet, he prayed to the goddess to
rescue his wife. Each garden has

a new story to tell. Eve’s garden wept
over her abandonment. Again, a story
of lost innocence. My garden smiles
jasmine-scented, at the fabric

woven to veil women who bear
men and their own ilk, with mute
acceptance of myths. Omnipotents —
did they even exist before a garden?

Image Design by Anumita Roy, Different Truths

Mitali Chakravarty

Mitali Chakravarty is a citizen of the world. She writes and edits with the hope of creating an equitable Earth that transcends artificial barriers created by manmade institutions. In that spirit, she runs an online journal called Borderless. She has been widely anthologised and published. Her life revolves as a mother and wife around her two sons and husband.