Photo: Flickr / 'Alone amidst the Pink.' by DeeAshley
Poetry

“Log kya kahenge?”

“Log kya kahenge?” (What will people say?)

 

A boy adorned in the colour pink;

a girl rejecting the ‘feminine’ blueprint.

 

A woman fulfilling her own dreams and desires,

before adhering to what tradition requires.

 

A man. Vulnerable. Expressing his fears,

his open heart healing through his tears.

 

Finding love in a different race,

challenging the prejudices still in place.

 

Finding love in a different sect,

risking community disconnect.

 

A husband: cooking, serving his wife;

a wife: working, living a ‘man’s life’.

 

Regardless of the progress we make,

if it’s the reputation at stake,

four crippling words that push the brakes:

“Log kya kahenge?”