Not equal We are not born equal I'm born in a naked cage Open hostilities A crown of thorns etched into our being Namelessness is considered a gift
We are not born equal The weight of expectations The brunt of brutal suppression Of our existence Is incomparable The pain that we never deserved Yet is destined for us
Religion defined me Contained me Yet changing it Abandoning it Does not break my chains Often I wonder When people cannot realize The wholesale selling of humanity
In India, society is divided into castes. Each caste historically had a particular profession and they were in a hierarchy wherein the cleaner, sweepers, tanners were at the very bottom and the priests, warriors, businessmen were considered at the top. You were born into the system. Your changing professions didn't matter. It still doesn't. Casteism rages in my country. There is a lack of English mainstream literature by Dalits in India.