Mira is a sensitive girl who is part of a sports team. The team, made up only of girls, has to deal with many issues whenever they are practicing, These problems mainly arise due to the boys playing in the vicinity. But just because they are girls, do they have to tolerate the misbehavior of the boys? 

Mira removed her shoes and threw herself onto her bed. She then started to cry. A mixture of frustration, anger, disappointment and sadness, were to blame. Not bothering to wipe the salty tears which incessantly streamed down her beautiful face, thought after thought attacked her helpless mind. “Why does this always happen to me?” she thought. The soft sobs turned into heavy weeping, and before long, Mira was crying her heart out.

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“Good fielding Sasha! What are you doing Mira? Do you want the team to lose?” shouted the captain to Mira. Feeling terrible about herself, Mira gently placed the bat on the ground, and looking down the entire time, she slowly but grudgingly walked to her place on the field.

“You know what guys? I’m going to change your positions. Especially yours, Mira. I don’t know what’s gotten into you lately. You’re bringing the entire team down! Mira and Sasha, switch positions.” The captain’s words resounded clearly in Mira’s ears, and did nothing to alleviate the hurt and pain Mira was feeling. She looked up at the sky; a vast expanse of blue, with the sun shining bright. The tears in her eyes blurred her vision somewhat. She tried to blink away her tears.

“You can’t cry Mira! Not here at least, in front of everyone! What will they think if you do?” Mira thought to herself. Feeling choked up, as if there was a knot in her throat; she scanned the field, trying to distract herself. The playing field consisted of a grassy terrain, a vast expanse of refreshingly cool greenery. The grass was cut to the perfect length, and the blue sky seemed to complement it perfectly. The beauty of the day seemed to be mocking Mira’s disposition. Lots of boys occupied the field and were playing the same sport as Mira and her team. This was not a good thing for the team, for the boys didn’t seem to care where they hit the ball, and it would sometimes tend to hit one of the girls, causing her immense pain. It was truly a challenge for girls to play on this patriarchal ground. Mira herself had gotten hurt the same way, on several occasions. Whenever this would happen, the girls would yell at the boys who did it; but to no avail.

The boys would say “If our playing on the field is causing you such a big problem, maybe you should go somewhere else to play!”

To this, the girls would retort, “We have the right to play on this ground! Why should we go someplace else? You should be more careful where you hit your shots!”

The boys would then say sorry but once they would turn their backs, would laugh among themselves, as if unaffected by the entire ordeal. The girls, being girls, had to silently accept this so-called apology, and were helpless. It was pointless to argue but difficult to stay silent.

On this fateful day, Mira had a similar experience. While fielding at her usual position, a leather ball came out of nowhere and hit Mira on her leg. Almost instantly, Mira felt a searing pain in her leg where the ball hit her. Already feeling hurt because of the captain’s words, this injury added to her woes. The tears which had welled up in her eyes now streamed down her cheeks. Mira sat down and held her leg, crying in pain.

“What are you doing Mira? Why are you sitting down? Who told you that you could sit down on the field?” Said the captain, oblivious to her tears.

The entire team didn’t seem to care about Mira’s injury, except for one player. Sasha came up to Mira and extending her hand to her, helped Mira up.

She wiped Mira’s tears with her fingers, and said to her, “Ignore the captain, Mira. She is tensed because of the match coming up, and since you are her roommate, she can’t help but remove her frustration on you. As far as the boys on the ground go, they are insolents. They don’t care if someone gets physically hurt because of them, nor do they care about our feelings. But we girls have to stand together. We are strong human beings. We don’t have to tolerate their nonsense! Who are they to abuse us mentally or physically? We have had enough now. Let’s go and show them that we are not any less than them!” With this, Sasha took Mira’s hand, and marched towards the boy who had inflicted pain on Mira.