Not Cool THEN, Not Cool NOW.

So where do I go to tell

How exactly they made us feel.

Maybe they were mere words uttered in joke

But how can this be funny

If the walls of my neck begin to shrink and choke.

We were not born

Like the rest of you

Great heights, slim waist, or a fair shade

So when people look at us

They have an irresistible urge to grade.

When I was a child

Someone pointed at a person and said

"Look! That skin is so black"

I knew I heard something weird,

So I asked dad,

"What does black skin even mean?"

He answered "Well you see, there are different people of different color"

Curiosity in mind rose like the Helium balloon

I had gazillion questions in my mind so soon

I asked

"Oh my god! So there Green and Yellow people too?"

My imagination amused him and he didn’t continue.

It was much later when I understood

The curse of being black or dark

Skin color decided how one SHOULD spark

When my own sister could not accept her tone in the mirror,

When the only thing my 6 year old younger sister,

Could think of, was fairness creams.

SIX YEAR OLD....

When kids her age played outside,

My sister kept dabbing face powder to look white,

She was scared to walk out whether in day light or at night,

My beautiful baby sister ...

Who could lighten up any sad day with her innocent smile,

Learnt at a young age that she doesn't fit in.

It was not cool then

It is not cool now.

Laughter and mockery were practiced every day in my class,

To anyone who prayed to a different god.

Parents told their kids,

"Child! Play with your kinds and not with the flawed".

When at a birthday party,

While My mother bought the best possible gift for my Hindu friend,

We were shown that different kinds...

Different kinds won't be allowed to blend.

We were differentiated from the rest,

They made us sit away from the fest.

Because we were Christians,

They believed we sink in chicken and wine,

And thus we weren't fit with the rest, to dine.

Growing older with different people to meet,

That story strong, but took a back seat.

And then one night,

My friend cried her eyes out

It was one heavy rainy night

The darkness took everything bright

When my friend said, 

"He choose not to love me back"

Religion had their relation crack.

One more Majnu stoned to death,

One more Laila took her last breath.

It was not cool then

It is not cool now.

I was five and half kg of happiness

My mother knew she held pride in her hands

I grew up to learn of shapes as

Circle, square, triangle, rectangle

But no, No, no,

I was called everything

From cement roller to stray cow

Asked if science allowed me to bow

Boys would punch me on my belly

To see how it would bounce

Called me names i cannot pronounce

They slapped my ass

Cos they thought it was funny

& later cut it down by calling me a cute bunny.

I can almost hear that wanna-be of my class

"Fatty is here, bring her an extra chair"

Mother fucker, Asshole and other words in mind I'd swear.

I would go back home

Sit in the corner and eat no more for days

Had excuses and lies of many ways

Until I could think nothing other than food

My curse could only brighten up my mood.

It was not cool Then

It is not cool now.

How did it matter

If I touched my forehead, chest and shoulders across

Trying to knock on Gods door

Or bowed down my head with folded palms

And chanted prayers with roar

Or knelt down with both my knees

To touch my head on the floor

Or raise my hands up the sky

To remember almighty from my heart core?

How did it matter

If one is fair or not?

A Brown could have the guts

To take what a Fair got.

Black, Brown, White, Red, Yellow...

There is no book or law

To decide which is the best color

Shade shouldn't mark lower or upper.

How does it matter,

If a boy wants to cook...

And the girl doesn't care how she looks?

She can knock out someone in a video game..

He can clean better and feel no shame.

How does it matter...

If a waist can stretch or squeeze...

Size won’t decide,

Who shall exist and who will cease,

One may stop today,

But tomorrow another tease.

Unfold the sight from this veil,

Bring a change in this tale,

Add a pallet to your vision.

Galaxies shall charm you with color collision.

Be the faith, of Empathy and Belief

Feel the power to share someone's grief

Hold someone so tight they might break

Trust me you will reduce some ache.

Have a fat heart with love and care

There is a beauty in raw and bare.

Seek the soul beyond skin

We are all the same within.

You reading this

Yes! You!

Are beautiful, sassy and strong

And YOU choose where you belong.

Peace Out ☮