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doll (n.) - A model of a human figure, typically of a girl, used as a toy.
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"Ma, I want a doll!" and then, Ma says affectionately, "You, yourself are my Doll, pretty." and you almost reach cloud nine because a doll is beautiful, because a doll just smiles shyly, because a doll looks at you with lit-up eyes, and because a doll is where your 5th standard heart's desire lies. So when your 12th standard heart hears it from a stranger, and skips a quick heartbeat and sees him coming forward for a little play, what cloud is it that you reach? why does it not light up your eyes? why, it's just smiling shyly, isn't it? or let me just say it, you instead bury yourself deeper and deeper into the ground.
But you were a doll, remember? A puppet for his stinky lust, A marionette to control, A nice manikin for him to put his devilish eyes on, A figurine for his dirtied claws, A toy for a little joy, And a plaything for his filthy mind.Â
So maybe, you are intended to play your part To sew your mouth like it knows no words, To shut your voice like you have no choice, To eat your anger, and die in guilt, To gather your broken pieces, while your soul gets killed, To shush, and to carry this patriarchal legacy forward.
But your lungs are not a cage, So why don't you yell out in rage? Because you are not a plastic princess in a designer box, Because you live in this civilized society or better yet, this criminalized society, And before they shift you to a dollhouse, and term you the world's vulnerable part, Show them your valiant heart, And tell them you are not something trivial,Â
Because this time, the dolls are real.
- Vidhi Sharma