Namaste! I am Kusum,
A girl, eight years old,
Housework or caring for baby,
I do all that I am told.

I walk three miles to school each way,
I am lucky, I get to learn,
Reading, writing, embroidery,
to help my family earn.

"A clever child!" my teacher says,
And my parents beam with pride,
"We will send her to college next,
She will not be a child bride."

Child marriage is illegal now,
It's good news for girls like me,
We can go to school and college
and dream of what we can be.

Will I become a sportswoman
like Sania or P. T. Usha?
Or a bio-technologist
like  Kiran M. Shaw?

Will space and cyber-space be mine?
Will I invent something new?
I will put India on the map,
That's what I can surely do!

As I help Mother tend the cows
I tell her all I will be,
"Don't forget your talent," she says,
"Your lovely embroidery."

These delicate designs are what
my village is famous for,
My sarees will travel the world,
Everyone will ask for more!

I can be traditional but
can be fully modern too.
I am a proud Indian child
Wait and see what I can do!

Namaste! My name is Kusum.
An obstacle? I'll fight it!
History will be kind to me
For I intend to write it.