In a moment that mirrored Tiananmen Square’s Tank Man, who stood alone before a column of tanks in a pro-democracy protest in 1989, Rhiya Yadav (Ahir online), 27, in Mumbai, placed her hand on the nose of a police van to stop it carting young people away. She is one of lakhs of protestors across the country, who are showing up on the streets, asking for education reforms. “She had become a symbol of resistance,” says this story. “I had read about my rights. When I asked the policeman if he had a memo to detain those kids in the van, he was hesitant. That was when I knew I had to do something. It was dangerous to walk alongside the van, holding the hand of a detained girl protester. So I instinctively jumped in front of the van,” she told Vinaya Deshpande Pandit. In Delhi, a city where women must always be on the offensive to survive, women continued to pour into the protest site at Jantar Mantar. Surprisingly, here, they felt safe enough to go alone, to breastfeed a baby in public, to hold up pro-democracy placards.On a humid night, five women under the banner @gathersisters on Instagram got together at a home and packed 99 bags of food. A community organiser, a lawyer, a development economist, a social-sector professional, and a journalist set off in a car that smelt of jasmine. The idea of wearing jasmine in their hair came from the community organiser, who had earlier gone to a market that smelt dank. Suddenly the scent of jasmine hit her. “It was such a shock to my system,” she says. “That’s what this protest has done; it has shocked our system. It’s also a reminder that this broken world has so much beauty, and it’s worth fighting for.” She says the protest has meant “being able to tune into my courage and generosity”, and being reminded that others want to too. “It is a basic human need to want to support, to contribute, to matter.”The women drove through Delhi’s night streets, protected by education, employment, togetherness, families that stood by them, and the confidence that comes from being out and about in the world.In the shadow of a monument built by a Mughal emperor to study the stars, the women, helped by a social media influencer and a contingent of volunteers, dropped the food off past midnight, at the food donation table. All they felt was solidarity. “It was like the crowd had a conscience,” says the community organizer. Here, men fan people; they collect garbage; roll out mats for people to sleep on. They make spaces safe for women. As Preeti Mishra, a 32-year-old who came alone from Meerut for the protest said: “We were marching to Parliament. The police were standing at the first two barricades, but did not try to stop us. However, when we reached the barricade near the Parliament Street police station, they suddenly lathi-charged us.” She and many others fell. “I panicked,” she said. “But some strangers formed a circle around me and other women. They moved us to safety,” she told our reporter Nikhil M. Babu, who has stood at the site day and night, with the Delhi team, to bring us stories of bravery and of care. TOOLKITAapla Aawaz, Aapli Sakhi, a group that organises educational and entertainment events for women in Maharashtra, often hosts Marathi film screenings. Run by Sangita Tarde, in Pune, the group has about 60,000 members, and does film-related events in the State. “I was seeing how people were not coming out to watch Marathi films and were waiting for their OTT release. But when we started organising these events, one woman would bring more of her friends along and it became a group outing of sorts for them. That’s how entire screens get booked,” says Sangita, in this story about women audiences championing Marathi films in theatres. WORDSWORTHMixed-gender teamsThe concept of sporting teams that comprise all genders, in order to appreciate different skill sets and boost fan engagement. World Team Tennis, the mixed-gender league founded by American player Billie Jean King in 1974, will be relaunched this December. In Kolkata, children from the Kalighat red-light area train together, playing on mixed-gender teams, to find freedom and self-expression. Mixed-gender teams at work too tend to bust stereotypes. OUCH!To uphold the Hindu Sanathana Dharmam, once we form Government in Telangana next, we will make bottu (bindi) and bangles for every Hindu student. We will ensure the dharma is safeguardedBandi Sanjay Kumar, Union Minister, BJP MPWOMAN WE METManisha Jadhav, a farmer who was widowed about two decades ago, is worried that Maharashtra’s Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, translated to the Chief Minister’s My Favourite Sister scheme, will fail her. The direct benefit transfer of ₹1,500, which arrives in bank accounts of vulnerable women every month, has just seen over 92 lakh women removed from the beneficiary list. Manisha cultivates soybean on 2 acres of land, and her challenges are many: “When there are good rains, prices crash. When the rains fail, market prices rise but there is hardly any crop to sell.” She is worried that if the ₹1,500 is stopped, she will find it hard to run the house. “Many of the women here have a monthly household budget of hardly ₹3,000 to ₹4,000. If this ₹1,500 stops, managing the household will become extremely difficult,” she says, in this story by Radheshyam Jadhav.