During the late '90s, when approximately 400-odd Diwali anks — festival publication for Marathi readers — were splashed across newspaper stands, bookstores and pavements of Mumbai, one magazine stood out for its unusual content. The cover featured an illustration of an androgynous form of Shiva and Parvati, and under the title, a line read: Understanding the male psyche. Harish Sadani, who runs the NGO Men Against Violence & Abuse (MAVA), had taken a bold step by printing Purush Spandana (Male Vibrations), a 200-page magazine "for men, by men and about men". Except, it contained no titillating content, but thought provoking short stories, first-person accounts, interviews, and analytical articles, written with the aim of goading men to rethink masculinity.

Let's talk about men
"An ank is intrinsic to a Marathi household. It holds great cultural significance, as it is distributed as gifts during the festive season. So, we felt it was the best medium to communicate," says Sadani, sitting in his modest Dadar office, whose walls are plastered with newspaper clippings. Established in 1993, MAVA has been working towards building a movement that explores the role of men as "partners" and "stakeholders" — addressing gender issues through cultural advocacy, direct intervention and youth education initiatives. The magazine, Sadani tells us, was born two years after its inception. The issue is now in its 23rd year, and although it was aimed at men, 33 per cent of its readership base comprises women. "When we started off, there were three types of men we wanted to engage with: first, who are violent and whose wives had approached us to counsel; second, were the fence-sitters, who in principle, support equality but can't take a stand and the third, the rational lot, who walk the talk."