female foeticide in india


poem name :

The Missing Girls

Where have all the ‘missing girls’ gone?
Gone! ‘Gone, to the grave yard’!
Where have all the missing girls gone?
Gone! ‘Gone, to the grave yard’!

She missed the bus
While being born:
They pulled her back,
Wrung her neck,
Threw her into the
Trashcan!

Where have all the missing girls gone?
Gone! ‘Gone, to the Trashcan!

As an infant, she missed the bus:
Her brother got all the milk,
Her brother got all the rice,
She, only the watery starchy broth!

She missed the bus to the school,
Her brother got on…
‘Cause:
She had no shoes,
She had no clothes,
She had no books,
How could she then get on?

But she had flour,
Vegetables, rice and spice,
She cooked the food!
She missed the bus,
When she sat down to eat:
Her father and brother ate up all!
The crumbs were all she got…

But she had a broom,
A mop, a wiper:
She swept and wiped the floor,
Cleaned off, her own blood!
Whatever was left
Her tears washed-up!

She missed the bus to ‘college ‘ too
She was ‘married’,
Already with a child or two!

But she got on the bus
To the graveyard!
She went up in flames in Shamshan Ghat…
Where have all the missing girls gone?
Gone! Gone, to the graveyard!
Gone! Gone, to ShamshanGhat!

She got the bus to market too:
She was sold for a thousand or two!
Again and again…
She got on the bus to Hell too!
Again and again…
Oh, yes! Here she got on
For sure!!!

Where have all the missing girls gone?
Gone! ‘Gone, gone to ‘Hell Gate’!

For ages they wondered:
What to do?
How to-get-rid-off
This unwanted baggage
Of doom!
They used the pillow on her face,
To stifle the scream,
Lest it was heard!
The very first scream of the ‘birth’!
She could not even get to cry,
Suppressed was the very first out cry!
Women whispered in corridors,
Midwife could not sleep after daily chores:
Their souls were black
as the night...
Which kept them awake-
Conscience pricking
eyelids and eyes-
All night!

Then one-day technology came:
What a boon!
Shot to fame!
Now we can ‘do the job’!
Without a clue!
Who can say,
‘She’ ever was?
‘Cause,
She never was!!

Oh! So easy:
Just a scan!
And then, the forceps &
‘Sound’, & whirring of
Suction pumps…
Or,
‘Dilatation’, & ‘Curettage’
Hear a bit of crunch!
The ‘job’ is done!!
In a minute or two…
No evidence left behind
Oh! What a find!
(This USG is just divine!!)
All is thrown into the ‘Dustbin’,
Who can say?
There ever was
A ‘Girl’ Missing ’!!

Where have all the missing girls gone?
Gone! ‘Gone, to the dustbins’!
Where have all the missing girls gone?
Gone! ‘Gone, gone…’

‘Missing girl’, who never was!
No funeral-pyre,
No ‘Shamshan Ghat’!
No evidence, no clue:
The crime is ‘Missing’!
& So is the ‘Girl’!
The girl is ‘missing’
& So is the ‘evil’!
& The black-soul can go on…

Where have all the missing girls gone? Gone! ‘Gone, to the grave yard’! Where have all the missing girls gone? Gone! ‘Gone, gone…

Now, the men are hard pressed too:
How to get a wife or two?
No problem!
Go to the market place,
Get a wifey, get a slave! **
She will wash and clean up too
Cannot ‘blame’ you whatever you do!
A machine for bearing children too…
A baby every year or two:
(If it is boy, well and good!
If a girl-you know, what to do?)
You keep your land & inheritance too
Just like a slave in olden times…
Just like the slaves, right now…

Where have all the missing girls gone?
Gone! ‘Gone, gone, gone…

Where have all the missing girls gone?
Gone! Gone, gone, without a trace…
Wiped off from the face of Human race…
Is her value really at stake?
Time is witness to her plight!
And so are you!
And so am I!