When the Body Starts Speaking What the Woman Was Never Allowed to Say

Guest Author : Manjusha Ravi Bhaskarwar

For society, Savitri and Ramesh were everything marriage should be. “Kitni problems aayi, par dono ne sab sambhal liya,” people said with admiration. But beneath that perfect surface lived a young bride who learned early that her voice didn’t matter ,only her endurance did.

She married young. Adjusted constantly. Bore children. Managed homes and hearts and elders. And every time exhaustion crept in, every time her spirit whispered rebellion, she heard the same words: “Mitti pa lo… jhakli muth savva lakhachi.” Keep quiet. Silence is priceless.

So Savitri kept quiet. For forty years.

When Silence Becomes Sickness

Now past seventy, Savitri carries society’s respect like a heavy medal. “Bahut strong aurat hai,” they say. But what they don’t see is the war raging inside her body—the mysterious pains, the sleepless nights, the fatigue that medicine cannot touch.

This is post-menopause. But it’s also something deeper.

The anger she swallowed. The dreams she postponed. The grief she never named. All of it buried alive—not dead, just waiting. And now, as her hormones shift and her body changes, those emotions are clawing their way back. Not as words. As pain.

She thinks things she’s never said aloud. Not to her husband. Not to her children. Not even to God. Because her values won’t allow it. “Ab bolke kya fayda?”

But the body doesn’t care about propriety. The body refuses to stay silent.

The Healing Begins

When Savitri came to me, she was confused, ashamed, afraid. “Kya main galat hoon?”

I told her: You’re not wrong. You’re overwhelmed. Your system has been suppressing pain for decades, and now it’s demanding to be heard.

We didn’t offer quick fixes. We created a safe space—a place where buried emotions could surface without judgment, where healing could happen at her pace. Slowly, the “underground viruses” began to clear. Her pain reduced. Her posture shifted. Her eyes softened.She didn’t become someone new. She became herself for the first time.

The Safe Window Opens

This is why initiatives like Safe Window for Women Power is required. Not to destroy families or discard values, but to offer what was always missing: a confidential space where women can speak without guilt, release what they’ve carried too long, understand their changing bodies, and reclaim their dignity.

Healing at this stage isn’t about rewriting the past. It’s about living the rest of your life in peace.

A Message to You

If you feel constant pain with no clear cause, emotional weight you cannot name, or guilt for wanting something just for yourself know this: You are not too late. You are not wrong.Your body isn’t betraying you. It’s finally asking for care.Step into the Safe Window. Talk. Share. Heal.

Because freedom from pain is self-respect too.

Note: Guest author Manjusha Ravi Bhaskarwar is a Relationship Counselor and cultural activist.

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