Jyoti Jungle
Mothers, please tell anything you like to your sons:
be healthy, live long, successful and fearless,
anything you like them to be.
Pour all the love you have in your heart.
But, as you shower your blessings, never forget to tell this:
Son, keep away from raping anyone all your life.
Did you teach your son to be a MAN or a humankind?
To your son, did you prove yourself a mother or merely a woman?
When they returned late at night,
who did you tell to come back home before dusk:
only to daughters or also to sons?
The way you do cleansing to a malamiwithjau til*
let your son in only afterensuring
that he has not committed a rape.
Whether it is your husband or your son,
do not remain quiet, if they lay dirty hands on any female.
Hold contempt, speak vehemently against,
but never let your face washed by tears,
pretending to be compassionate.
And importantly teach your daughter about rape
in a way you have taught about religion.
Encourage her to hit back in protection
in a way you tell her how the deity killed demon.
Even if the culprit is your own father,
or lover, teacher, uncle or brother,
urge her to hit back,
encourage her to strike with all her strength.
And finally, looking in the eyes of your daughter,
give this mantra: if you kill someone while protecting yourself,
it will not be a murder.
Having finished a criminal, never run away.
Come to me and without hesitation say:
Mother, I have liberated the rapist from his life.
Translated by Mukul Dahal*Malami – a person who participates in funeral, or in cremation in Hindu culture.
**jau (oat grains)and til (sesame seeds). Used in cultural, religious rituals.
[Jyoti Jungle (b. 1973) is a Nepali poet and storywriter. Her published works include two collections of poems: Pahadko Mann and Mukta Samaya, a collection of ghazals, Aksharma Timi, and a collection of stories, Chhaya. She lives in Kathmandu with her family.]