Harish Sadani tries to achieve equal rights for women by including men in the fight rather than alienating them

They called him bailya (sissy). When Harish Sadani was growing up in Mumbai, he was the only boy in his neighbourhood who helped with the household chores. His neighbours and friends, who considered these feminine tasks, used to mock him.

Sadani’s family had moved to Mumbai from Karachi during Partition, and though they are Sindhis, he grew up speaking Marathi and considers himself a Mumbaikar. He saw his father, who had only been educated till class IX, behaving differently from other men, helping with housework and in the kitchen. He mimicked him and was encouraged to do so by his paternal aunts, who played a major role in raising him.

“I was struck by how the woman’s role in a home was considered beneath a man’s,” Sadani says. “But I was inspired by the example of my father and realized that not all men need to be the same.”

A lover of cinema, Sadani became a fan of Smita Patil, the late actor and noted feminist, and would write her letters asking questions about the strong female characters she played..................Read more

Source: livemint