Poetry

Nevil Zaveri photo

By

Ridhima Young

I Am Not Judging You

No, I am not judging you…Not judging you carrying the Versace and a beard on that beautiful

manly face with such panache..

Not judging the stretched earlobes, making you stand apart.

Neither the colour of your skin or the braids on your head.

Nor the dress, which you put so much thought into, to fit yourself in the false ideological image of

perfection created by your fellow humans.

Not judging the length of your dress or the neckline of it.

Nor the tallness or the layers on you.

Not judging the two months showing on the belly or the scars on your hands shouting of your

victories over your own demons.

No, I am not judging you…Not for that.

Not at all…

But, wait, did you just laugh at me and mocked my walk, my ways, my dress, my thoughts?

Did you just say I am a bigger sinner than you because I sinned differently?

Did you mock at my slow pace of understanding and the way I said “Hello” with the crooked smile

I have always been made to feel ashamed of?

Did you find my lisp, my body language, my gestures funny because they are different from yours?

Were you sly and conceited all this while, trying to get your work done and deceiving me on every

step in the subtle ways, that my eyes could see and my soul could feel, but ignored, because I

considered you mine?

Yes, Now I Judge You…and this you deserve!!

Tell Me A Story

Can you tell me a story…a story of a person

Not a man, not a woman, nor a girl or a boy

But someone…someone who was not placed on pedestal for being empathetic and

loving

Nor was looked down upon for showing their tears on feeling the pain gleaming in others’ eyes.

Someone who believed in one God and his blessings but ever respected the crescent

moon, the cross and the saffron cloth.

Someone who was brave enough to be called a Feminist and smart enough to choose

their fights.

Someone who was not a man, nor a woman…the one who was nothing but a human…

Ridhima Young

I am working as a project manager at an IT firm in Australia. I like reading novels and listening to stories of and from people. I write with a hope to gain a better perspective, to empathize more with my fellow beings, and also with a hope that one day we become unbiased and non-judgemental.