A balloon seller now she is

Her name does not matter

Married for she was considered a burden

By her very own parents.

A poor girl from the city of Rajasthan India

Surviving, living by and around

Cafes in the city of Pune

Just 19 solar cycles old

Her malnourished body has no signs of youth

She works all day selling balloons in hope

For one square meal to come her way

Often she says she eats only once in the day

If she is lucky she gets a bite-sized meal.

She wanders around till late evening

and sells her wares outside the hip street cafes

Often times to children and some for grown-ups too

My daughter is all of 19 too

Was visiting the cafe with friends

She chanced upon her last evening.

Begging her to buy some balloons

She took a bit of time and listened to her woes

She was deeply moved and she fed her dinner

In return, she was gifted a balloon from the heart

And this story above is the truth of this balloon seller’s

Life and existence

That she heard first hand and narrated to me last night

I reflect on how she said…

‘The balloon seller is stoic and yet hopeful’

Her life is a tragic story and pitiful

An account of a woman’s day!

Another day dawns …

They call it Woman’s Day!

The woman labours on

With the same fervour and faith

Like every other day

It makes no difference to such countless women really

If there is a day marked in her favour

Using her name politics is played

Institutions have events and clubs have parties

Felicitating and celebrating in the name of womanhood

When will lives of every female child truly change

As a mother or the daughter or the sister

Maybe there is a recognition and sweet words

from your family and friends for a day or so …

Her life is a mere existence in making through each day and night…

What a day like this going to matter to her.

Really not much.

She is out in the open vulnerable and bare.

Bounded by duty imposed without a right

Carried on in the throes of life and living.

Praying a day will dawn when every life matters.

Where every child is born and raised with love

For the future of this world belongs to them.

Savvy Raj