Slaves Of Gold… “Am I Beginning A New Life, Or Ending It?”

Spare poetry that is also expressed through professionally shot pictures, this is a chilling look at how an Indian woman is enslaved under the garb of 'marriage'.

Spare poetry that is also expressed through professionally shot pictures, this is a chilling look at how an Indian woman is enslaved under the garb of ‘marriage’.

I am a woman.
My jewellery is a sign of my slavery.

My necklace is a noose around my neck,
Choking me, stifling my cries.

My bangles are shackles,
Tying me to the patriarchy.

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The anklets that tinkle when I walk,
Ensure that I don’t stray outside the Lakshman Rekhas of society.

Is the red I wear,
A symbol of love and prosperity,
Or of the inauspicious blood that I have silently shed throughout my life?

As a bride, I ask myself,
“Am I beginning a new life, or ending it?”

A version of this was first published here, and Photography by Mustafa Ali

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