Every little girl has a dream
A dream to study, a dream to play,
A dream to dance, a dream to fly,
A dream to be free from all adversities,
A dream that imagines equality, a dream that eliminates hierarchy,
A dream that shatters glass ceiling, a dream that challenges patriarchy,
A dream against oppression, a dream against subjugation,
A dream of possibilities, passions and aspirations,
A dream of liberation and a dream of emancipation,
A dream that will not die…
You may build walls, fences or boundaries,
You may create barriers of caste, class, religion or any other hierarchy,
You may close schools, defund colleges, smother universities or lock libraries,
But you cannot lock nurturing imaginations,
You may use arsenals or weapons, bombs, military or prisons,
For these dreams have been cultivated, and passed on through generations,
These are the dreams that will not die…
All the arbitrary discriminatory laws of the oppressive tyrannical regimes,
All the age-old, regressive norms of fundamentalists who pose as divine,
You may push a woman’s body behind purdah or veil to restrict her mobility,
You may try using indoctrination to engrain patriarchy,
You may use fear, terror or threat,
or you may harvest toxic masculinity, rage or hate,
But you cannot stop the venturing of a courageous mind,
A warrior walks the path she will find,
Because she has the dreams that will not die…
You may kill girls in the womb or discriminate against those who survive,
But you cannot shoot that fearlessness and bravery that thrive,
You may force honor killing or child marriage,
But these are the dreams you cannot encage,
Your chauvinism may shoot many Malalas,
Your misogyny may brutalize many Asifas, your sexism may rape Ashas
But you cannot kill their amazing far-sighted vision,
You cannot enchain the minds that have learned and dared to imagine
Rather your hostility will add fuel to the fire,
More you suppress more these dreams will grow stronger
Do whatever you could but these are the dreams that will not die…
Every little girl on this planet has a dream
A dream that hopes for the million possibilities and passion
A dream that brings change through creativity and compassion
A dream that imagines a violence-free wonderful world around her
The little girl who dreams know how to resist, dissent through her mutinies or rebellion
She knows that her dream will not shatter, what you do, doesn’t matter
The little girl is a warrior, she will not be deterred
Her dream will come true sooner or later,
But, one thing is sure, the dream she has will not die….
Shalu Nigam is an activist, researcher and a lawyer working on women’s rights, human rights, law and governance issues for past several years.
