She comes with a tag of,
'Handle with Care'.
She doesn't stick it to her forehead.
She won't say it to your face.
She will keep it all inside.
Cause that's how she was raised.

It's the anxiety and insecurity,
That everyone talks about today.
Not when she was a kid,

Who feared walking alone,
To find a man putting his hand in her skirt,
To find a man grabbing her breast from the seat behind in the bus,
To find herself playing little games with big boys that involved kidnapping and rape,
To find that familiar man behind closed doors, feeling his own puberty,
To be asked to not mingle with everyone,
To be asked to shut up,
To be asked to speak up,
To be asked not to show emotions,
To be asked to take the easy road,
To be asked to always be nice,
To be asked to not retort,
To be asked not to cry seeing father's dead body.
To be asked to maintain calm and composure.
To be asked to serve others always.
Cause that's how she would find a good spouse.
Cause that's what, life WAS all about.

It's that anxiety and insecurity,
That never taught her to trust.
That never taught her to believe.
Neither in others, nor in herself.
Neither in human relationships, nor in any concept.

Eighteen years of this,
Can't go in one or two.
Or when someone says, once or twice or however multiple times-
'get over it'
'don't overthink'
'don't be so emotional'

But she is becoming headstrong.
Bit by bit, day by day, month by month,
Journey after journey, men after men.

She is a bull to take it on, to fight with pride.
She is a tiger in the looks, better watch out for that look.
She is a turtle by nature, mostly hibernating.
She is a cat in receiving, wanting worship.
She is a dog in giving, wholeheartedly.

But she will always carry the tag,
'Handle with Care'.
That's what she carries in her bag,
The do's and dont's she was taught,
But gradually she fought,
And will come out of the pot.

-uk