Hello, I'm Eve !

I was asleep when it rang.

'$$$$ Aayi Chikni Chameli Chhup ke Akeli $$$$' from beneath my pillow broke the silence of the atmosphere eventually waking me up.
I picked up and answered in a sluggish tone - Hello !

"Hello ! I'm Eve." met my ears.
Me - Do I know you ? What can I do for you ?
Eve - Sir, I'm doing a survey where I'll tell you a story or an event at the end of which I'll ask one question.
Appropriate answer will earn you a gift hamper.
Unfortunately, I did not have chance to get the answer from my previous calls. I expect you to be a man of Wisdom and good knowledge.

I momentarily took the challenge - partly for gift-hamper and partly for listening to her voice.

Eve continued :

In that chilly night of Delhi,
filled with sprouting pain from vandalized organ
a silent cry floating amidst the pandemonium
It was Me.

In candle-marches with grief and angst,
With banners and slogans and protests,
I run, I shout, I fall, I cry
Today Budaun then Powai.

I was the neck-hanging from a tree
looking at complacent souls beneath my feet,
I'm the one invited and then,
Abused then molested at friend's treat.

I take shelter in books and class,
in schools, Universities but alas
Eyes follow me wherever I go,
It now seems an ever-ending harass.

In the darkness of that room in my neighbourhood,
I see a face known to me plucking
Bit by bit and part by part
Sometimes my adolescence sometimes my childhood.
Days and weeks after when I'm found,
Mutilated, scattered on the ground
I become the object of sympathy sometimes,
Or sometimes become 'ethically-bound'.



Eve - Thanks for your patience Sir on this anecdote.
Now if you permit, may I ask the question ?

I was not ready for anything. I could barely speak for a deep sense of ignominy met me.
Me (clearing my throat) - Please go ahead.
A long silence wailed over the phone, and then the voice came.



Eve - When it will end........Sir ?