I am speechless. I am wordless.
But I will never be silent. I will never be silenced. I will continue to use my voice. To raise my voice, and my spirit.
That is part of what 'The Girl and the Goddess' is about.
I can barely articulate anything else, even now, hours after finishing this pilgrimage of a lifetime.
'The Girl and the Goddess' consumed me. Transformed me. Changed me. Evolved me into a new, higher state of human being. It is magical, yet real. It is old, yet modern and timeless. It is something of this world, of this universe, that cannot be reviewed. It can only be experienced.
It is a tome that is everything I love: there is contemporary feminism; body positivity; self-love; coming to terms with trauma and injustice; loving bi and lesbian representation; sisterhood; motherhood; exposing rape culture, and the toxic killer that is the patriarchy and systematic misogyny, which poisons different cultures from all over the world; exposing the evil, bloody, destructive history of colonialism and imperialism (i.e. partition); exposing the incessancy of racism and xenophobia; goddesses; magic like witchcraft; accessible and absorbing poetry mixed with prose; and folktales and religious stories that are explored, re-examined and reimagined - in this case, in India and in Hinduism - and that are different from my own ignorant white, European culture and society.
There is empowerment. There is healing. There is the feminine power to change the world, which desperately needs it.
There is love, and hope.
One vital lesson this magical book teaches us is that Hindu gods and goddesses keep on reincarnating, into different mortal forms, and different genders. And they fall in love with all kinds of people; whether they be of the same sex, or of other sexual/gender identities. They do not care for that, so why should we?
'The Girl and the Goddess: Stories and Poems of Divine Wisdom' - I am still shaken, moved, and crying. And I am someone who is usually intimidated and confused by poetry; made to feel like an idiot by it.
Nikita Gill, of whom I am a fan, has really outdone herself, in crafting this extra-divine mistress-piece. It is about the life and times of Paro Madera; it is this vulnerable, sensitive, bold, beautiful, brilliant, ordinary yet extraordinary girl's coming-of-age story. But truthfully, it is about all girls and women everywhere.
(It also reminded me of an Indian version of 'Persepolis'.)
It can be read in a full day. Just be prepared, you will not be the same afterwards. 'The Girl and the Goddess' (even the title was made to entice and enchant me) is like a rebirth.
One major flaw I can give it is that is uses the frustratingly trite 'I let go of the breath I didn't know I was holding' line near the very end of the story. I was surprised to see that in something as special as this.
But everything else is star-studded, a milky way galaxy of beauty. It is a cosmic, nebulous, heavenly gift to the earth - set in our own contemporary era - and I will cherish it forever.
Final Score: 5/5
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