Have you ever felt like everything is over?
All paths are closed.
There is darkness all around.
And suddenly, a tiny ray of hope stirs from somewhere deep within, and a voice echoes from inside—
“No, not yet… there is still one path left.”
Whether this has ever happened to you or not, only you know. But it happened to me.
When I felt that perhaps nothing more could be done, every path appeared closed. Darkness surrounded me on all sides. My mind felt completely empty. Nothing was visible.
Then suddenly, from somewhere, a tiny ray of light came.
That ray awakened a hope deep within me.
It felt as though a little girl had held someone’s hand in the dark. As if she had caught hold of a finger and said—
“Don’t be afraid, I am here.”
It felt just like that.
It felt as though we are not so weak that we give up so easily. Not so weak that we bow down to the double standards of society.
No. We cannot do that.
When this voice echoed in my ears from somewhere, it felt as though I had come alive once again.
I understood that I must try.
I cannot accept defeat without trying.
Just like no one can know whether they can swim unless they step into the water.
Every single day, I would listen to that voice coming from somewhere deep inside me. But along with it, there was also a fear.
The fear was—what if this too is just an illusion?
What if this hope is as false as that society, where every single moment one has to struggle just to maintain one’s existence?
But gradually I began to realize that before fighting anyone else here, I would have to fight myself.
Because society has erected many such walls within us in the name of tradition, from which liberation is essential.
“You are a girl.”
These are not just two words.
Often, with these very two words, rules are defined for us—what to do, what not to do, where to go, how much to speak, how to live, and which decisions of our lives to make for ourselves.
We will have to break free from these boundaries.
But now I have come to understand that breaking only the outer walls is not enough.
Those walls must be removed from within us as well.
Because if we keep believing within ourselves that we can do nothing, that what will society say, what will people think, what does tradition say—then no outer freedom will ever be able to truly set us free.
This very single new ray of hope gave me the courage to free myself from these invisible bonds.
It made me understand that if we want to bring about any change, the transformation must begin within ourselves first.
Only then perhaps will we be able to bring about a change in society as well.
If we cannot free ourselves from these invisible bonds, how will we ever be able to do something for someone else?
This path is not just mine.
And perhaps not just ours alone.
We need your help for this too.
Because changing such an old mindset will not be easy. And this change will not come from the effort of just one individual.
Unless we come together, this small voice perhaps will not reach very far.
We must show that we have not come into this world merely to live life in one predetermined way.
What has been going on for centuries is not always right.
Respecting tradition has its place, but no tradition can always be right at the cost of an individual’s freedom, identity, and dreams.
Therefore, we have to turn this tiny ray of hope into a full, blazing sun.
Only then perhaps will some darkness lessen.
Only then perhaps another girl, who today is sitting in a closed room thinking that all paths are closed for her, will be able to see that light.
And she too will feel—
“No… everything is not over yet. One path is still left.”
Come, be a part of this change.
Perhaps this effort of mine is very small.
But when all paths seemed closed, this tiny hope gave me the courage to try again.
And perhaps this same hope will awaken that long-suppressed question within someone else as well—
“Are all paths truly closed?”
Perhaps not.
Perhaps some path is still left.
Just to see it, we must not let that tiny spark fade away.