For sale the
farmer advertised
the best
bred of his stock.
And so he
spread the news around.
The news
travelled fast.
From far and
near the buyers came
to see his
red roan cow.
"Her
pedigree's unimpeachable", he said.
"There's
no doubting that
in the prime
of life
giving
gallons of milk,
many calves
too she will bear.
Yet when
she's old
She'll have
so much beef
An army she
may feed.
Her skin is
of the softest roan
no factory
can refuse…"
And so the
farmer prattled on
the quality
of his stock.
My son's of
age the farmer thought
the eldest
of his brood.
And so he
spread the word around.
The news
travelled fast.
From far and
near the brokers came
of
brides-to-be to speak.
"She's
a homely type", one broker said.
"I
assure you that
of flawless
skin, the divine shape,
a house too
she can keep.
A pleasure
to behold
Yet ever so
strong,
many robust
sons she'll bear
of talented
mein, with house worth lakhs,
jewels and
farmland too she'll bring;
no thinking
man'll resist…"
And so the
broker prattled on
the quality
of his stock.
"Why is
this so" a daughter asks,
"that
we be bought and sold?"
And soon she
passed the message around.
The news
traveled fast.
From far and
near the women came
to see what
could be done.
"We'll
meet with hostility first," said one.
"We
should recognize that
With bricks
and bats and this and that
they'll try to keep us down.
We're human beings with brains and mind
and not just
household slaves.
No more for
us as dressed up dolls
and beings
to bear more heirs.
We're
through with being just mindless beings
whom man
cannot resist…"
And so the
women vowed to rise:
No more
would they be stock.
By Malathi
Raghavan 1984-85
