Mahendra Bhatnagar

Woman Reborn

You aren't a purse-purchased commodity of man,
Nor are you the soulless slave girl,
The brainless hand-maid and the lifeless doll.

No longer are you the age-old
Down-trodden footwear of man,
Not a source of pleasure and pastime any more
Frailty is not thy name.

A bed of roses you desire not.
Nor are you caught in the whirl-pool any more
But banks distant you adorn now.

No longer shall injustice crush you,
New power and zeal of the time is with you;
Your hands are now free from chains;
Prison social or personal confines you not,
Nor does man dominate your mind and body
That you submit to his whims
And utter not a complaint even by chance.

On behalf of the youths millions of the world
I speak, not as your lord, but as a friend;
I simply wish to bind you
With bonds silken of eternal love!