I Want to be Free!
I want to be free - a woman from Venkatapuram I yearned to be free to explore the world outside the compromised comfort of my parents’ home without the sting of comments or ‘friendly’ prying advice on brightening my skin color, or controlling my weight or walking properly, speaking/ replying properly, eating properly, wearing properly Properly being anything suitable to everyone around except me I yearned to be free from these inherited and ingrained ways of doing things properly But I’ve realised I too have become one of ‘everyone’ That despite leaving the boundaries of my parents’ home I’ve learnt to build the same ones in my own Nevertheless, I want to be free I want to be free To walk without dodging stares, without dreading to caution my friends abroad that staring is ‘normal’ in Hyderabad that we either keep our heads down or pretend not to see the eyes that follow us – in bus stops, on streets, in malls, in parks, in shops, in temples, in offices, in funct...