When she refused to collapse

When Siya was born, the house filled with coos, lullabies, and endless laughter. She grew up wrapped in affection, praised for her innocence, adored for the way her words softened even the sternest faces. She was sweet, talkative, and endlessly curious. Love came easily to her, and she learned to give it back without fear. She was raised to believe that kindness was always returned in equal measure.

As she grew up, the people she interacted with were quite different. They weighed every gesture and dissected every word. Control came dressed as care. Conversations happened about her sometimes behind her back, sometimes right in front of her. Despite sacrificing her happiness, she continued to care for the people around her, believing it was her duty to make everyone happy. But the girl who once knew only love faced situations that made her learn that, despite her efforts, she could not make everyone happy. Some people just do not know how to be happy. She slowly learned the taste of quiet resentment and the ache of being misunderstood. By the time she reached adulthood, she also realized that life often tests women more harshly than men because they are expected to bend without breaking. She endured.

For years, she thought being silent was maturity and tolerating others' rude behavior is virtue. Then she became a mother. Holding her child, she felt that if she tolerated and remained silent, she would fail to instill in them the right values. Finally, she realized that endurance was not the same as strength. Strength was clarity. Strength was setting boundaries. Strength was refusing to let pain become a family heirloom.

With this understanding, Siya began to speak gently yet firmly. To her child, she taught self-respect before sacrifice, empathy over self-centeredness, and equality over tradition. While learning this, she did not grow harder, only wiser, and finally, free of the weight of tolerance and silence.

And as she watched her little one grow, she held onto hope that their world would be gentler, fairer, and closer to the egalitarian society she once dreamed of.

Stuti Rastogi, author is a contributor to Gulf Today