If I could order two perfect days from the Universe, it would be darn close to these two in Mumbai. To be in the company of smart, thoughtful, creative, energetic young people who are thinking critically; learning, educating and mentoring; creating dreams, goals and strategies and making them manifest; and forming community with each other for friendship, support, collaboration, fun and collective action… is pure joy. I was so inspired, hopeful and grateful.
And my deepest respect to Men Against Violence and Abuse (MAVA) and to Bhavan’s College for their commitment to creating the engagement and support for these young people’s growth into their best selves and their best gifts to the world.
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- Lunch with the truly impressive staff and interns of Men Against Violence & Abuse (MAVA).
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- With some of the interns at the Men Against Violence & Abuse (MAVA) Office They taught me about arranged marriages, and the legacy of the English colonial land-grab to current indentured servitude of farmers and how the financial pressure to come up with dowries has lead to female infanticide and farmer suicide. And I taught them about… Aretha Franklin’s R-E-S-P-E-C-T song.
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- Dr. Z.P. Bhathena, Principal of Bhavan’s College Liberal Arts school, opens the event. Also on the opening panel are: Harish Sadani of MAVA, feminist filmmaker Aruna Raje Patil, Ben Atherton-Zeman of Voices of Men, Dr. Kranti Gawali, professor of Psychology and our extraordinary host and sponsor of this event.
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- Ben’s “Rocky” character explains sexual consent and how he got it wrong on his first date with Adrienne. Check out the attendance!! And this assembly was not an assignment or requirement. The attendees were not only there out of interest, but they had to pre-register! — at Bhavan’s College.
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- The men in attendance stand to pledge to never commit, condone or remain silent about gender-based violence. — at Bhavan’s College.
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- The men in attendance stand to pledge to never commit, condone or remain silent about gender-based violence. — at Bhavan’s College.
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- The men in attendance stand to pledge to never commit, condone or remain silent about gender-based violence. — at Bhavan’s College.
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- Students from several Mumbai-area colleges who are involved with MAVA perform a very engaging series of skits on sexual consent. 98% of the skit was performed in Hindi, but so much was conveyed by the body language that I was completely enthralled. It is not uncommon for Hindi to be peppered with English words or phrases here. At one point, I heard “[Hindi] [Hindi] [Hindi] [Hindi] [Hindi] no means no [Hindi] [Hindi] [Hindi] [Hindi]”
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- Bhavan’s College students perform a series of role plays on sexual consent.
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- All of the Bhavan’s College student volunteers who made this incredible event possible!
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- Anmol, next to Ben, is a social media sensation. I was with her several times out in public when young people recognized her and asked to take a selfie with her. She is fearless, mischievous and quick-witted. She is one of many acid-attack survivors who are refusing to be shamed into hiding, and are claiming their right to be fully engaged in the world. We are here with three of her lifelong friends, who grew up together in the same orphanage.
