The Indian Men’s Rights Movement had a good start in 2004. (Note: See AVfM’s message of support and solidarity here–DE) We never wanted to centralize it into one organization. We made it mandatory for men’s rights activists in every city to start their own NGOs. As a result, today there are more than 40 men’s rights NGOs in India. In Bangalore itself, there are 7 men’s rights NGOs. The central theme of most of these men’s rights NGOs is the support group meetings, which almost always focus on supporting men going through marital problems, courts case or facing domestic violence. The value that a man often gets by attending these support group meetings is immense. He gets clarity, peace and learns laws, which actually cuts his lawyer fees in half. The fundamental principle of Indian Men’s Movement is, “No matter what happens to you or your life, enjoy life; enjoy every moment of it”.
Today, Indian MRAs are actually among some of the happiest people in India. The bad circumstances of life have no impact at all on them. That is what is reflected in the annual National Meets that Indian MRAs conduct every year.
This year, 114 MRAs from all corners of India converged at a resort at Pench National Park, to attend the Men’s Rights National Meet. This national park is actually a tiger reserve with at least two dozen Bengal tigers roaming in this forest. In the day time, they had hectic schedule of presentations and in the evenings they danced and partied together.
Most guys met each other for the first time, though they have known each other through social media. The presentations this year focused on a variety of topics from lobbying at parliament, future of the movement to topics like, how to manage your own fear. On the first day, MRAs from different cities shared their success stories. Most of them wore Men’s Rights T-Shirts.
