I Cry, Sometimes, Because I'm

I'll Impose Upon You The Same Arrogance That Was Imposed On Me, And On My Mother, My Grandmother, My Grandmother's Mother: All The Way Back To The First Human Born Of Another Human Being, Whether He Liked It Or Not. Probably, If He Or She Had Been Allowed To Choose, He Would Have Been Frightened And Answered: No, I Don't Want To Be Born. But No One Asked Their Opinion, And So They Were Born And Lived And Died After Giving Birth To Another Human Being Who Was Not Asked To Choose, And That One Did Likewise, For Millions Of Years, Right Down To Us.

It Brought Back To Mind The Injustice I Spoke Of, The Solitude That Oppresses Women Intent On Defending Their Own Destinies, Their Own Dreams, Their Own Mistakes.

I Cry, Sometimes, Because I'm Not 20 Years Younger, And I'm Not Healthy. But If I Were, I Would Even Sacrifice My Writing To Enter Politics.

Sometimes I Ask Myself Whether [indira Gandhi] Had, Even Then, A Certain Contempt For The System She Represented And, Years Later, Would Overthrow.

Without Khomeini, We Would Not Be Where We Are. What A Pity That, When Pregnant With Him, His Mother Did Not Choose To Have An Abortion.