Radhika

Radhika grew up in a poor Indian village.

She, her parents, and siblings survived

Droughts, famines, diseases, and monsoons;

Sporadic good fortune was always short-lived.

 

A gentlemen came to the village one day

And offered Radhika a job as a maid.

Oh, how exciting! A job in the city--

REAL work, for which she'd be paid!

 

Once in Mumbai, Radhika was led

To a hovel where she was brutally raped

And beaten and moved to a windowless room

At a brothel from which few girls escaped.

 

The poor young girl--eleven years old--

Learned very quickly how cruel life could be.

Her daily dream was to make her way home,

As soon as she found a way to flee.

 

Having lost years of her youth,

Radhika escaped and went home at sixteen

To parents who cast her out of the house

For being "sullied," for not being "clean."

 

Not knowing which way to turn--

With defeats piled on top of defeats--

Radhika returned in desperation

To the city, where she worked in the streets.

 

All over the world "Radhikas" exist,

But most of us never see them.

What will it take to end such cruelty?

We have to find a way to free them.

 

(6-26-16)