Letters To My Daughters: I Am Sorry

Dear Ammu, Pattu and, Laddu,

It is November 7th 2024.

I am sorry kanmanis. I am truly sorry.

I wish I was there at home, to sit, sift and sort through this incredible moment in history with the three of you.

I say incredible not because I think it is great that we will have a misogynist, xenophobic person who will be the leader of this country. Incredible because, you get to see that sometimes even when you put in the work, it is not enough. Sometimes, it is not enough even when you have given it your all. It is not enough that you have dazzled, worked many times harder, made no misstep and yet lost to someone much lesser than you. I am sorry because, for a few delusional weeks, I truly believed that a capable woman of color could prevail and, in a perverse way made you all buy into that dream.

As you grow and enter adulthood, you will see this time and again. You will learn like me, to let the sting of injustice hurt for a just a moment, brush off and move on to the next big thing. You will, I promise, learn that every defeat feels just as raw as the first one, you will learn to cope better.

I am sorry this country failed you, as women and as a minority.

But, we move on. We will build our tribe. We will learn to connect with our community. We will lift our sisters up. We will practice kindness. We will find joy in living. In the lead up to this moment, I want you to remember how it felt being part of a movement. I want you to remember what it felt to be buoyed by the notion you were working towards something larger than you. I want you to remember what teamwork feels like. Most of all, I want you to remember what being a joyful warrior felt like.

Remember kutties, joy is resistance. Joy is defiance. Joy is what will keep us going even when everything around us feels bleak.

We will rest. We will regroup. We will fight again, battle weary as we may be.

Love,

Amma.

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