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Journalism of Courage
‘I was not sick; I just wanted to be a woman’
Dr Aqsa Shaikh, 40
Associate Professor, Dept of Community Medicine, Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, and transgender activist, New Delhi
There was a time when I was seeking attention, now I am getting all of it. As I await the last leg of my gender-reassignment surgery, the respect and acceptance I have got has validated me as a woman. Most women are born with conditioning embedded in their DNA, but I have embraced womanhood, unpeeling and understanding every aspect of it, rather than just role-playing. But this journey has been a tumultuous one.
‘Enough of studies, now let me focus on sport’
Murali Sreeshankar, 24
Athlete, Palakkad
It was my last BSc mathematics exam in 2021. I went home from the university, kept all my books in front of my mother and said: “Enough is enough, I’ve done everything in my life for studies, now let me focus on my sport.”
‘I got to know myself better, take decisions for my own body’
Muskan Godiyal, 22
College student, Dehradun/Delhi
I come from a village in Dehradun, and moved to Delhi for my undergraduate studies in 2019. College is a set of new experiences for everyone, but there were so many things I could do here that would not have been possible in my home. Simple stuff — staying up late, being on dating apps, wearing clothes of my choice — that would have led to people talking, restricted me, often out of fear. I was scared of my parents, too, but it wasn’t their fault. I think society made them hold back more than they actually wanted.
‘My journey as an entrepreneur gave me wings’
Husna Sait, 47
Bridal Couturier, Bengaluru
In my teens, I had an option of choosing a career in athletics or academics. But my father refused to send me for athletics because “girls don’t wear shorts and jump”. I come from a Kutchi Gujarati Muslim community and the common refrain at home was, however, good one was in studies or games, some day I would have to get married and raise kids.
‘Why I call myself an Indian’
Moments when I feel liberated are not easily defined. Freedom isn’t just the quality and state of being free; it is an unfettered state of being where I am exempt from onerous and insidious thoughts and realities. I feel the scent, vibe, attitude, and empowerment of freedom when I am liberated from the shackles of others and the powers that control us through societal and geopolitical pacts and pressures.
‘My independence day has come to me over and over again’
Reba Das, 43,
Vegetable vendor, Delhi
Many people tell me why I didn’t make use of my school education to do better in life. But I schooled myself in the classrooms that life let me into and know that I have learnt many lessons that others have not. And I am good at arithmetic.
‘It was a huge relief to be able to hand in my resignation’
Sarah Lall, 41
Researcher, Chennai
I quit my job in May this year after having worked as a college professor for the past 12 years. What I loved about my job was the vibrant atmosphere of students milling around and the opportunity to nurture curious minds.
‘I like to believe she accepted me as her own from the second I met her’
Tannishtha Chatterjee
Since my early teens, I wanted to adopt a child and not have a biological one of my own. This is a belief that grew stronger when I became aware of the plight of children living on streets, especially when my family moved back to India after living abroad for years. I was around nine years old at that time. As I grew older, I became firm in my belief that to experience motherhood, I don’t have to give birth to a child and populate the planet further.
‘My bookstore has been my greatest experience of freedom’
Krishna Gowda, 43
Bookstore owner, Bengaluru
A few days ago, Australian cricket writer Mike Coward visited my store, Bookworm, and he was surprised to see a book he wrote in 1990 — Cricket Beyond the Bazaar — on the shelves. It had been out of print for a long time. But that’s not the only such surprise you’ll get at my store. Another such rare item was a scribble book owned by Indira Gandhi, which has her drawings and her signature.
‘There is no going back now’
Deepika Singh
Family legend has it that I was thin and frail at birth, that I only started gaining weight almost as an answer to my mother and Nani’s prayers after a life-threatening illness. Whatever it may have been, as far as I can remember and if pictures in the family album are anything to go by, I was always what people politely called “chubby” in small-town India of the ’90s.
‘The sky won’t fall if you don’t have a cellphone’
In 2000, when mobile phones started becoming common in India, Rajat Kapoor was at an ad shoot where the cameraman was on the phone till the moment before they called action. Kapoor thought, “Is this going to be the future, when you will have people’s attention only between action and cut and every other moment, they would be somewhere else?”
‘He/ Him/ She/ Her/ It/ They/ Them… I slay in all’
Pushpak Sen, 27
Stylist and digital content creator at The Bong Munda, Kolkata
I wish I could say I am doing something extraordinary, but really, I am not the first man with a beard to be wearing a sari. It had all started when I was in school at Calcutta Boys School in Kolkata. I had always been interested in fashion, in dressing well and dressing to stand out — something that is not usual among school-going boys. So, for any function in school, I would wear my father’s dhuti-panjabi to the event. One day, I discovered quite fortuitously that the length of a dhuti is not too different from the length of a sari and that would be the beginning of my experiments with the sari. I was about 15 then.
‘Kathak has given me independence’
Dheerendra Tiwari, 40
Kathak dancer, New Delhi
Growing up in a conservative family in Agra, which wasn’t very educated, the focus was on academics. To my parents, that was the way to a successful career and comfortable living. As for co-curricular activities, they were just that — co-curricular.
‘I rode a horse and wore Rajvadi clothes at my wedding to make a point’
Devraj Parmar, 25
Construction worker, Gangda
I got married in February to Aruna. For my wedding, I got two mares and we carried out varghodo (bridegroom procession) in my village along with a music party for garba, which was attended by around 700 people. For the occasion, I also got two pairs of Rajvadi (royal) clothes stitched that are traditionally worn by people from the Kshatriya community. Each pair cost me Rs 8,000.
What ails the cheetahs in Kuno?
September will mark the first birthday of India’s grand cheetah re-introduction project. There are no indications as yet whether a birthday party will be held for this occasion (with a cake being cut), and top VIPs being invited, probably not because this might hurt the sentiments of the surviving cheetahs who may be grieving the loss of the nine that have died, including three babies, all in just four months. Down In Jungleland (DIJ) managed to interview one of the survivors to discuss the project and the issues relating to the deaths and what the future seems to have in store.
