Hi, Mom (would have been), I am sure you must be very happily busy in your own world fussing after your beloved sons, catering for every demand of theirs, not complaining of tiredness even once. Here, I am busy too. Busy convincing God what I should be in my ‘next’ life. He is adamant, I should come down as your son. He says that way I can teach you and others a lesson. To convey as to how wrong you- and all those who persuaded you to KILL me- were in thinking that daughters are- a burden, a hassle, a never ending expenditure, a permanent tension, an impediment, a ‘ do away with’ useless clutter. I wish God had chosen me to be borne by a COW. That is one animal whose ‘Girl’ (child) calf is valued more than the ‘boy’ (child) calf. In fact the boy calf is actually looked down upon. The bull is given all the menial and hard work and whiplashes too, whereas the cow is worshiped and pampered for her milk. Her mere presence is considered auspicious. Poor families, who can barely manage the fodder for their cattle, do away with the bull. But the cow is kept, even past her milking days. The girl calf is certainly NOT killed, like I was, just for being of the “inferior” sex. Even the HEN for that matter, is preferred for the eggs, with the hope of her laying a golden one some day! The SOW is nurtured and pampered for the big litter she can give which generates so much pork (and money). The pig on the other hand is slaughtered happily. The girls born to the people BPL –poorest of the poor- too are luckier than me. These poor people prefer girls as they ‘ADD’ working hands to the family by doing all sorts of odd jobs right from the childhood; they are the source of producing more working hands AND if the worst comes to the worst- can do the flesh trade. On the other hand, the rich probably don’t mind a girl as their affluence compensates. They can ‘give and take’ so much that they don’t mind the son-in-law as HEIR. For the daughters of rich, becoming heads of Business Empire is the obvious thing or the money can marry off any thing. Even the neuter children are lucky ones – they are neither killed in the womb for certain, nor probably after their birth. Even they are accepted or at least tolerated; disowned maybe or given away to the eunuchs. Probably these children had a better chance than us because they could HIDE their gender in the ‘tests’. It is mainly the ‘middle’ class for whom as it is the pay can barely make the two ends meet. Then, with the growing expenses; once luxuries now becoming necessities and specially with the ever increasing ‘must haves’, life has become very difficult. On top of it the thought of saving for ‘marring off’ the burden and taking care of her sanctity and virginity- AFTER ALL IS IT SUCH A BIG DEAL THAT YOU WOULD RATHER KILL THE DAUGHTER? You were one of the lucky ones to be alive in spite of your feminity. And you are proud to have borne males to further the humanity. And to you –the proud mother of two sons we wish a very happy MOTHER’S DAY – after all, you can be happy only until your sons want you to be. Until they decide that you are not wanted, until they decide that you are a burden, until they throw you in the garbage bin, until they cut your limbs for the heavy anklets that you wear, until they decide your worth is nothing its just the property that you are holding which they must get even if they have to kill you. UNTIL THEN, be happy in your motherhood and count your blessings to be alive in spite of being a ‘female’, as a mother of sons. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY FROM THE DAUGHTER YOU HAVE NONE.