The Candid Self

The Burning Water

I walk in the bathroom and turn on the hot water. Although the weather's been pretty hot lately but the warm water will help me relax my tense muscles. The moment those first drops of water touch my body, I sense a chill running down my spine. It touches me the way no one ever has, it knows me the way no one will ever know. It has seen the real me. It's been the part of my vivid smiles while I day-dream, it has wiped my tears by being a part of them, it has tasted the flavour of my tongue when I sing in the most natural of ways without the fear of any judgement. But today it's all different. The water touches my body and it makes me shiver. It feels as if lava is travelling down my body burning everything it comes across. The water is mere lukewarm but the sensation shakes me to the core. It has started a thought process inside of me, it reveals the other side of me which I never knew existed. I turn my head up and let the water take my hair, I let it absorb ever strand of my hair till the time those long locks shape like a tail and reach my hips. I know the sensation, I am aware of it. For every time a man stares at me or tries to touch me, I get the same. I still remember the moment those metro gates opened and a hand grabbed my chest

I turned as soon as possible and there was no one standing behind me. They stare at me as if I were a piece meant for their entertainment. But who is to blame right? The item numbers in movies have given them the right to objectify women as a piece they can have all to themselves and do whatever they want to do with it. I return to the reality the moment I feel a burning sensation on my waist. Some say it's the easiest part to be groped and maybe that is it. I guess I was just lost in my thoughts when the one standing beside me did it or maybe the metro was too crowded. Well no one is to be blamed, I travelled in the general coach, it's my fault isn't it?