Reflection Of A Woman. Winning Entry By Rajashree D Purkayastha For The #GoodwynTea Writing Contest

There is so much that a woman has to undergo in life, just for being a woman. But a woman’s inner strength can take her through anything! #GoodwynTea contest winning entry.

This month, we invited you, our readers, to participate in the writing contest sponsored by Goodwyn Tea. You had to write a story either fiction/real, in response to the cue: “A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong she is until she’s in hot water.” A quote attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt.

Here is the sixth winning entry, by Rajashree D Purkayastha. Rajashree wins a gift hamper from Goodwyn Tea. For the taste of a perfect steep, visit www.goodwyntea.com and try out one of their high quality tea bag collections.

Reflection of a Woman

Gold in fire or a tea bag diving in hot water;
I’m Khona, gazing through the sands in hourglass
Playing hide & seek with life and fate,
Yet with sparkling smile & twinkling eyes,
Humming a song of dulcet wilderness.
I kneel to pray for shaping my soul, while God leading the way
I have dreams to fulfill; and many promises to keep;
But the turning points in life left me shattered,
Yet my inner strength trying to collect all pieces bit by bit,
And mould a new persona of myself.
Marriage brought new relations; with new responsibilities and duties,
…..And expectations with no known limits;
I know that being gold shall refine in fire,
Or a tea bag, dip dip in hot water,
Shall infuse to it the strong flavor of myself.
Disguise my feelings by clouds,
And look forward for daily challenges,
There is courage in midst of fear,
Shall declare triumph over faith, because God is near.
Then comes a new challenge of motherhood,
He is allowed to make an excuse for being a dad for first time,
But Expectations are flooded on me as I must be experienced
Even though myself a new mom.
The association of motherhood is unique,
Only the inner strength helps reach the peak,
Again I dive in hot water; infusing my aroma with strong flavor;
It’s tough for not just bearing, but raising a child,
At times need to control the spouse from running wild,
A single or married mom; yet identity asks for freedom
Freedom from all blames & excuses lame.
The road I’m travelling is both winding and long,
And so I need to be more than strong,
An arduous trek is measured in length
Like a tea bag in hot water will show my strength.
I honor a “Shout Out” to every woman,
For defeating circumstances & test of time;
For every time she goes diving like a tea bag,
Infusing flavor and taste to the plain hot water.
But unlike a tea bag, we are monotonous with variety,
The same old tea bag but with so much diversity;
In midst of all fears, we shall not make a dent,
We are withstanding not by outward strong, but inner strength.
…Rajashree

N.B. Khona is a legendary character; a feminist whose tongue was served with knife. In this poem Khona depicts me, you or any woman of strength. In our lifetime we dive like a tea bag in hot water, infusing our aroma and flavor to our surroundings and emerge stronger with time & situation. But unlike a tea bag we are not time-worn; we women are monotonous but with diversity.

Congratulations  from the Women’s Web team, Rajashree D Purkayastha. You win a gift hamper from Goodwyn Tea.

Image source: three generations of women by Shutterstock.

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