New Delhi: Fourteen years ago, then US first lady Hillary Clinton came to India on her first official visit. Then, a student of Lady Shri Ram college, Anasuya Sengupta, had recited a self-written poem before her.
Clinton was so impressed that a chapter in her 2003 autobiography was inspired by the poem. The chapter is called "Silence is Not Spoken Here".
On Monday, Anasuya -- now an activist for women`s rights -- again recited that poem before the thousand-strong audience at Delhi University`s Convention Hall in the Old Viceregal Lodge, where Clinton came visiting as US Secretary of State.
This is the poem:
Silence
Too many women in too many countries
speak the same language of silence.
My grandmother was always silent, always aggrieved
Only her husband had the cosmic right (or so it was said)
to speak and be heard.
They say it is different now.
(After all, I am always vocal and my grandmother thinks I talk too much)
But sometimes I wonder.
When a woman shares her thoughts, as some women do, graciously, it is allowed.
When a woman fights for power, as all women would like to, quietly or loudly, it is questioned.
And yet, there must be freedom - if we are to speak
And yes, there must be power - if we are to be heard.
And when we have both (freedom and power) let us now be understood.
We seek only to give words to those who cannot speak (too many women in too many countries)
I seek to forget the sorrows of my grandmother`s silence.
Bureau Report
