Ladies, Stand Up For Our Right To Dignity With A #PledgeToSurvive

We women have been pushed around too far for too long. Maybe it is time to rebel, to stand up for our right to dignity and a life on our terms! #PledgeToSurvive

I am a girl. Yes, I am a GIRL. Born in this country; brought up with values of respect, dignity, love, nurture, sympathy and integrity.

As the new year begins, I hear the voices of the endless ‘ME’s.

Then the ‘me’, who was manhandled at that temple, just because I wasn’t moving faster in the queue. The ‘me’ who was harassed and tortured by a certain boss at a certain workplace. The ‘me’ who was burnt alive by my own people. The ‘me’ who was taken advantage of and left in the middle of nowhere. The ‘me’ who was assaulted for merely being ‘me’.

And many more such ‘me’s. I hear them all, loud and clear. I have heard them cry. I have heard them shout for help. I have heard them screaming.

Now I hear them walking. Silently. I hear their feet and I hear their souls. Like words don’t matter anymore. Like enough was said but not enough was done. I see them vigilant, I see them stronger than ever. They are all a bunch of ‘ME’s. And we are moving steadily towards all of those ‘YOU’s who have taken us for granted. Those who felt we can be victimized…

You had better know that we have decided to stop playing a victim. We have decided to stop being harassed and subdued and tortured and played with and taken advantage of. We have decided to stop dying.

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The next time you touch me without my consent, I will not draw my hands back. I will ensure your hands are ripped apart, so that you do not even think of doing that ever again.

The next time you tell me I can’t do something just because I am me, I will ensure that I do it right in front of you, so that never again would you underestimate my power.

The next time you grope me or try to assault me physically, I will let you see my strength and make you go down on your knees and beg for mercy.

The next time you shout at me or try to take me for granted, I will make sure my voice reaches its highest decibels so that never ever you use your power against me.

The next time you try burning me alive, I will ensure that I rise from my ashes and destroy your existence to its core.

The next time you play with my soul or body, I will make sure you do that for the last time with anyone.

This New Year I pledge to bring out the strong, powerful, undeterred and fearless ‘ME’ – the survivor me. In today’s times, when the saviours fail to save, when the legal and judicial system ridicule, when my own family abandons and leaves me homeless, when my parents decide to kill me even before I come into this world, when my companions stab me deep, when I am treated like a no one – I will show the world who I am. I will not back down.

I was brought into existence by the Almighty with a heart full of love, to spread joy and hope among the hopeless, to be a ray of sunshine. But just remember, the rays come from a fireball – you try to suppress me and I will explode – and the destruction thereafter would be just a consequence.

All the ‘ME’s out there – let’s #PledgeToSurvive. Beat all odds and triumph!

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