To My Daughter, Coming Of Age.....! (Udayachandran CP)

Oh, my sweet li’l one, 

Isn’t today special,

The day marking the arrival 

Of the woman that you are!

Know yourself, oh li’l one, 

And preserve your identity.

Peep inward and you’ll see

The changing fragrance of seasons within you,

And fresh shades and hues blend so naturally.

Looking at you, 

I cannot but contain my outburst of happiness,

As an uneasy numbing fright crawls up my spine!

Turn…turn your ears sharply to me, my child! 

These are artless words of fact unadorned,

Words as unsullied and pure as milk 

Oozing out of mother’s bosom!

Breaking thread after thread that kept you tethered, 

As you wait impatiently to unfurl your wings,

To glide up the sky so invitingly vast and open,

Dotted with hidden traps 

That your guileless mind and innocent eyes cannot spot, 

I stand confused.

Am I seeing the me reflected in you? 

Or is it a reflection of you within me? 

 

But, dear one, as you step into puberty, 

As you get ready to take on 

The mantle of womanhood,

Are storms raging in your mind?

Do I see shadows of dark clouds in your eyes?

Does fear make you cringe? 

Oh, my honey, have a heart 

To recognise the truth, so horrid…,

To face the reality, so sour. 

Forget not that we have amongst us,

A creed, known also as the male of the species.

Within homes or out, do not ever, dear, 

Dismiss the fact that they are out there, 

The vultures with frenzied minds,

The violent pleasure seekers.

Looking out for an opportunity 

To maul you and shred you into pieces!

Listen, young one, to my words 

Filled but with pristine verity.

“Trust the males, do trust them like anyone else 

But never in surfeit and 

Caution be your watchword.

Do not rest in that trust in a manner blind.

Never do gobble, 

But eat in small bites, 

So you can keep chewing what you do bite off.”

Honest, my cute, I do not have 

Answers for all your questions,

Like how it is so and why it is so.

But to your question as to which of the chunks

Among the creed can be given your heedless trust,

Let me tell you:

“On one segment of guys, to be sure, 

You can place blind trust, my lass,

And they are boys below ten years of age. 

Then there is only one more chunk 

That you can trust, and trust so implicitly.

Mark my words! 

They are none other than 

The males who have breathed their last.”

Take care, my girl, 

Nurture a canny crow in your mind.

Wherever you venture out, 

Go free and bold,

But let the sharp crow-eyes guide you,

Let the crow in you be quick enough 

To step out of danger.

Oh, my lass, do not cower,

Grow up, do grow in stature.

Do not cease from unleashing the power within you.

Give life to your dreams.

Be the life of earth, and 

Be the earth in spawning and sustaining life.

Oh, my young one,

As you step out into womanhood,

My sweet wish to you is that like every true woman,

May you grow into that banyan tree

Providing home and life to multitudes

So silently, so ungrudgingly!