Friends,
hate me
as much as you wish
but these women,
these so-called prostitutes,
these girls
they are
my mothers,
my sisters,
my daughters.
And yours too.
They belong
to the same Hindustan
where cows are worshipped
with folded hands
and sacred chants.
They belong
to the same India
that bows before
nonviolence,
before Buddha,
before the idea of compassion.
They belong
yes
even to the homes
of great capitalists,
though no one says it aloud.
And if you refuse
to see them that way,
then remember this:
they will belong
to the coming revolution:
its mothers,
its sisters,
its daughters.
Translated by Deepak Vohra