If I Had A Daughter

If I had a daughter.

If I had a daughter I will tell her to make mistakes, drink vodka and fall over the city, make a few heads turn, crack her head, get some bruises and I will silently pray that the marks stay limited to the skin and do not percolate to her soul. I want to guard her against any harm but I won't stop her. I want her to fall, bruise her knees, polish her knuckles and stand up again for a fight. But maybe life isn't a fight. Maybe we need to realize that this transcendence from one day to another is not a battle rather a lesson. Somedays will be as hard as algebra but nothing is unconquerable while other days will be as easy as her favourite subject. I won't stop her from exploring men. In the process, she will know what she wants to be, every guy will bring out the best in her and leave her at her worse. I will be with her as she will gather her broken pieces, I will let her bleed in pain, I will come to caress her burns and motivate her to come back on her feet, bandage her outlets and be a warrior. I won't stop her when she cries,  I'll hold a tissue to blow her nose as her tears perform the catharsis. I will teach her poetry and tell her to write some. To pour her heart on paper and let her words reverberate in the world.

I will tell her to read sex and not watch it because she might just puke at the sight of it. I will let her read about the art of lovemaking, how the burning of bodies and union of souls leads to the highest level of ecstasy.

If I had a daughter I will tell her to be herself and not change because the world wants her to. I will not tell her to drape a chunni over her head or not wear a dress. I will teach her to carry her dignity as poised as she carries herself. I will tell her that a violation to her body can never touch her beyond the skin, I will tell her that it's not the end of the world.

If I had a daughter I would let her be how she wants to be.