she crept along that once yellow road
and one by one her bread crumbs flew away
she became her own leftover
she stopped for a song, never walked again.

My Fault I'm Female

A couple of years ago, my sister and I were walking down the street to go get an auto rickshaw to go join our parents at a cultural program they were at. Basically, we had wanted to skip the ‘cultural’ bit, with all the dancing and singing and were trying to time our arrival with the community dinner which is to die for. We started from our house, and we had to walk about 3 minutes to reach the main road where the auto rickshaw stand was. This was about 11 in the night. Two guys on a bike passed by, and as expected (for in India, “mild” eve-teasing is norm of the day) they commented something. I was expecting the usual “Hi Sexy!” and was horrified and pissed off to hear from these two guys, “Good Morning!” We ignored them and kept walking, mostly cos that’s the norm and also cos there was no one else on the road and I wanted to be closer to the auto rickshaw stand before lashing out. And I was going to lash out. I was seething! These two young men (must have been mid-20’s, about my age) wished us Good Morning at 11 in the night thus reminding us the weaker and vulnerable sex that it was nighttime and that we should  not be here walking on the streets. Well, they could, cos they were male but for my sister and me, the 3 minute walk was blasphemy…OFWF.

Well we reached the rickshaw stand as they were returning for the third time to wish us morning, when I turned around and maniacally screamed at them to ‘FO.’ I screamed and screamed the same thing again and again as if the next thing I was going to do was to fly to them and crush them to death. I screamed like a demon.

They fled without a backward glance.

Good Morning to you too sirs!