9-Year-Old Boy Was Called “Chakka” For Wearing Pink Lipstick, But His Cousins Got His Back

You know what’s the best thing about being alive in India right now? We are on the cusp of something infinitely amazing. We are in the process of finding the perfect blend of traditional and progressive. Our girls are a lot more educated than earlier and that is making all the difference in the world. With education comes confidence, and with that confidence, we have found it in ourselves to stand up to everything that’s wrong in our society.

However, changing things at home means having to oppose our dear and elder ones. Those very people we have the utmost respect for. And mustering up the courage to put forward our points of view, which more often than not, directly clashes with theirs, can be one of the most terrifying things ever.

Twitter user Diksha Bijlani is one such girl. One who grew up in a ‘stereotypical alpha male-centric household’.

But, when it came to supporting her 9-year-old cousin, she was having none of it. In a Twitter thread yesterday afternoon, she described an incident that had happened, with her little cousin at the centre of it.

Here’s how it starts:

My cousin, 9, is the most “effeminate” in the house. Let’s call him Little Cuz. Loves to paint nails, wear lipcolour, learn home science! But in this stereotypical alpha male-centric household he’s often the pivot of jokes. Today he applied lipcolour & got called a “chakka” (1/n) pic.twitter.com/mZ2FplPNyP

— Diksha Bijlani (@BijlaniDiksha) June 18, 2018

This little boy exploring and expressing a feminine side of himself earned him the tag of “chakka“. Imagine how horrifying it must’ve been for him? Enough to make him hide under the bed.

She continues:

So he hid behind the curtain & under the bed, shielding his lipcoloured face from the camera & from his mom. Somehow it is always the moms that feel most “embarassed” with their masculine, hardy sons trying makeup. Or anything feminine. (2/n)

— Diksha Bijlani (@BijlaniDiksha) June 18, 2018

Diksha took it upon herself to set an example for her ‘Little Cuz’. She rallied up the troops and did something extraordinarily special for the young boy:

In such a house it takes constant work as elder cousins to undo the conditioned gender binary,normalise gender neutral acts which are deemed feminine. So we all wore lip color to make him comfortable & accepted. He felt a specially empowered when he saw my brother wearing it(3/n) pic.twitter.com/aixXrfMpbw

— Diksha Bijlani (@BijlaniDiksha) June 18, 2018

Awww… you guys! This just filled my heart with all kinds of warm gushy feelings. The fact that her older brother with that glorious beard joined in with Diksha to help bring up the boy’s spirit is commendable.

And Diksha says the same, with a photograph along with the little trooper who is in visibly better spirits:

My brother gave up any toxic masculinity & complied to influence Little Cuz. Little Cuz came out & smiled comfortable in his skin.
So important to realise that we owe the responsibility of giving every younger kid a safe space to embrace his place within the gender spectrum(4/n) pic.twitter.com/d9ffsJbsTa

— Diksha Bijlani (@BijlaniDiksha) June 18, 2018

She ends her story with this powerful message:

“So important to tell little kids gender is a spectrum, a repertoire of places they can visit w/o losing their identity. I hope all of us tell kids we know that they are valid, they are accepted, & they are beautiful today. I hope we don’t become the bullies we warn them of.”

Diksha’s message is such a powerful one at a time when one of the biggest obstacles on every woke Indian’s path is their families. Many of us rarely spent any time at home or with family anymore and it can be very tempting to hold our tongues when we do. Doing so avoids confrontations and heated arguments. But it also lets the current stream of regressive thought go on unchecked.

This awesome sister also had an update to share about her Little Cuz and it is the very definition of a cherry on top:

Update: Today, Little Cuz picked up his sister’s pink bicycle. Uncle ridiculed him for riding on a pink bicycle like a girl (bec that’s how petty my fam is). He retorts & says “Gender real nai hota. Kal mene aur bhaiya dono ne red lipstick lagaya tha didi ke saath. Aap puchlo” 😊

— Diksha Bijlani (@BijlaniDiksha) June 19, 2018

You go, Rockstar! One gesture of support from his fam and this little human has found the courage to educate his elders with this epic life lesson: “Gender real nahi hota.” Can I adopt him Diksha? Pretty please!