I am my own Hero

By Somali K Chakrabarti

‘No means No,’ the message has been conveyed sharply and clearly in the movie ‘Pink’. Thankfully this time it has caught the fancy of viewers. The theme of gender and consent has often remained ambiguous or has been construed differently by different people, though lately we see that the message is being sent out and reinforced through plays, street art, and movies.

The above picture is of a mural at a Railway station in Chennai on the theme of Gender and Consent. Here’s is a poem based on it.

She emerges
from a jasmine sea
the lovely, lissome Padmini
and captivates the spunky Shivaji;
— they are the golden pair
of Tamil cinema of the yesteryear
She is dressed in vines and petals
He, in the dazzling warrior gear,
Perceiving a petite maiden,
he moves ahead to save
the damsel in distress
Into his strong arms,
he must, must
sweep her away…
With a gentle gesture of hand,
she shoves him and there she stays
Looking at him in his eyes,
she gives an assuring smile
‘I am my own hero,’
Ms Padmini says.