Written and performed by: Mekhala Saran and Prateek Lidhoo
Camera, Direction, Editing: Puneet Bhatia
Camera Assistant: Ribhu Chatterjee
Music: Prateek Lidhoo
Senior Editor: Rohit Khanna
In Iran, women are seeking their right to not wear the Hijab.
In Karnataka, school and college-going girls are seeking their right to wear the Hijab.
In several states of America, women are seeking a reaffirmation of their right to safe abortion.
In India, we are fighting in courts to criminalise marital rape.
And these are just some of the battles that women have embarked upon in India, as well as across the world. But all these battles have one key underlying message in common: ultimately all we are asking for is CHOICE.
I'm a woman of this century
I will exercise my choice
I'm a woman of this century
I will exercise my choice
I have seen buildings
fold before they crumble
So how can mere men
Stop me from wearing what I want
Or tell me to wear what I don’t want to
I have seen men
Tumble, fumble, and tremble
So how can they
Strip me
Of my choice
Steal my agency
Crush my voice
I will cover up
As is my right
I will shed layers
And I will fight
You can cover your eyes
And you can hide
No one has asked you to look
If you’re terrified
I'm a woman of this century
I will exercise my choice
I'm a woman of this century
I will exercise my choice
But I won’t go gentle into the good night
I will fight with all my might
And you, bless your heart,
You can keep trying to gaslight
But my choice is my right
Your arguments for its repression
are hackneyed and trite
So, spare me the spite,
Climb down the high horse, take a flight
The truth is bare, there in plain sight
The shiniest silverware can start to rust
Dawn follows even the darkest night
I have watched buildings crumble to dust
And I have history to write
I have seen empires crumble
I have seen these tyrants cry
Don't you question my decisions
Don't you regulate my life
You don't know what I have been through
You don't get to mute my voice
I'm a woman of this century
And I'mma exercise my choice
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