There is a word in Hindi, thehraav, meaning stillness. Before we act, we pause, think about how our action will impact ourselves and the communities we live in, but also how our action will impact history.

When the men of the Iranian soccer team landed in Tijuana, Mexico, to play the world cup, they sported lapel pins that said #168. This was to honor the 168 children— most, girls — killed in the February 28 missile attack on a school in Minab, southern Iran. They risked testing the FIFA ban on political messaging. Earlier in the year, at another match, they held up purple school bags, in protest and remembrance.

In other news, a Supreme Court Division Bench of Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice N.K. Singh, both men, acknowledged women’s unpaid work at home, saying it accountd for a minimum of ₹30,000 per month. They called them “nation builders”, saying that we needed to make a shift in our vocabulary from ‘housewife’ to ‘homemaker’.  

Then there are the men willing to tell the world of their insecurities. After years of trying to conceal a balding head, Thrissur-based stand-up comedian Sajeesh Kuttanellur decided to shave his head off, and called for a meet-up of bald men. Three years ago, 25 people showed up. Today, Motta Global is a collective for bald people with over 2,000 members across 40 countries, from ages 24 to 70.

Motta Global’s motto is ‘Heading Confidence’, and Sajeesh says in this story, “Hair plays a huge role in how people perceive themselves. When they begin losing it, many struggle with insecurity and self-consciousness. It takes courage to embrace baldness and shave your head.”

TOOLKIT

Spartacus, the international gay travel guide, publishes a yearly Gay Travel Index, which ranks 216 countries and regions on LGBTQIA+ friendliness, especially in terms of safety. Last month, it ranked Iceland, Malta, and Spain as the top three, taking into account aspects such as marriage and even the death penalty. India ranked 31. At 216 was Yemen, followed by Iran and Saudi Arabia.

WORDSWORTH

Scare drag

In 1960s New York, a person had to wear at least three items of clothing associated with the sex they were born with. Those who were gender queer (a term that came into being much later), dressed wearing both women’s and men’s clothes, in a performative style, reflecting a part of them that was hidden. Many of these youth had been thrown out of their homes by parents, had no jobs, and lived in poverty.

They were a part of the movement that supported self-expression in Greenwich Village, a neighbourhood in New York inhabited by artists and other counter-culture figures. Here, gay men, lesbian women, and gender non-conformists gathered, often in the bars, one of which was Stonewall Inn. On June 28, police stormed the bar, arresting and humiliating people, especially those who were not in what was then considered gender-appropriate clothing. Many resisted, and the Stonewall Riots have gone down in history as an important milestone in the fight for LGBTQIA+ rights. It’s the reason June is celebrated as Pride Month world over. 

Sources: The Law School, The University of Chicago; PBS; National Park Service, Britannica

OUCH!

We ate chicken biryani. That cost about ₹360-370. Then she asks me to drop her home. Maine kaha ki ₹370 lage hain to use to wasool to karunga hi (I said that I have spent ₹370, so I will recover that amount).

— Himanshu Jangra, 22, on comedian Pranit More’s show

PERSON WE MET

Fathi Salim’s matrilineal Muslim community in Mahé was often pitted against patriarchal systems. She remembers the restrictions on the women, but more, the camaraderie among them. “They had their own world inside, and they were happy in it. If they encountered problems, they would share them with each other and together find solutions,” says the Kozhikode-based author. Her debut novel Dechoma and the Women of Mahé,translated from Malayalam by J. Devika, focuses on the friendship between a young girl, Umaiba, and Dechoma, who works in her home. The story “unfolds in a fragmented, hopscotch manner, delving into the lives of the various women Umaiba encounters,” says Preeti Zachariah, who interviewed her.