India, Dec. 21 -- Surely, what happens within and outside the home must affect boys and men? It does. Perhaps, for the first time, a beginning seems to have been made when a small group gathered for a closed-door dialogue on men, violence, and responsibility on December 13 at Zubza, Kohima district, organized by Dimapur-based Prodigals' Home and Peren Touch, supported by the North East Council.

Reportedly, the meeting was conceived as a space for men to reflect on social harm, responsibility, and emotional disconnect. The organizers are right that such conversations are largely absent in Naga society, as they are in any patriarchal society, particularly in the Northeast.

The dialogue, we are informed, emerged from observation and field ...