Ordinary Girls. Ordinary Men. Harassment Beyond Ordinary.

Only the time, place and faces change. The smirks, the lascivious looks, catcalls and evil touch stays the same.

So heartening to see women finally gathering courage to speak up. Inspires others too. Even boys and men have begun to open up about their abuse.

Here's the life story of an ordinary girl. And many more girls like her.

She was an ordinary girl,
a happy girl 
born in a happy family.

Till
an ordinary stranger spotted her from a distance
across the ground he hopped
snaked in the crowd behind the little girl 
against her he rubbed his manhood.
She flinched. and moved away. 
embarrassed, disgusted and confused.
She didn't tell anybody.

Taking advantage of the power outage
an ordinary tuition teacher brushed her cheeks
scraped her tiny breasts
touched her thighs, every time.
She didn't tell anybody.

Her school friend was called 'heater'
whose jeans clad 'modern' legs
ordinary boys feasted their passion-filled eyes on.
the society blamed her boldness,
told her to cover up behind a salwar.

The college boys abused, threatened the girl
because the ordinary girl dared to question 
their sense of entitlement,
took them head on.
She refused to cow down.
She was told to calm down.

'A girl's reputation is fragile like glass'
since childhood she was fed on,
'once broken it can't be repaired'
She imbibed the lessons. 
She hurried past them. Eyes lowered.

The pervs the creeps on a bike, 
faceless men in the Holi revelry,
the young uncles, a fellow traveller, 
a dress shop assistant, a vegetable vendor, 
a dairy owner, an ageing neighbor,
she lost count.

They were not the big fish.
They were all ordinary men
preying, pawing, groping an ordinary girl.
Any girl!

They cried. Without a cry. Swallowed their tears.
Their shattered souls, they never bared.
They would have died with them-
the secrets in the darkest nooks of their souls-
but for the #MeToo.
Isn't it their #MeToo?
Mine? And yours too?