Celebrating the POWER of REPRESENTATION

FEELING SEEN IN THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA IS PERHAPS ONE OF THE BIGGEST THINGS THAT WE ARE ALL CHASING. FROM BODIES THAT COME CLOSE TO REPRESENTING US TO STORIES THAT SPEAK OF OUR LIVES AND VALIDATE OUR STRUGGLES, WE LOOK TO FIND THE ‘ME’ IN EVERYTHING AROUND US. AT ELLE INDIA, WE’RE CELEBRATING 26 YEARS OF BEING AT THE FOREFRONT OF REPRESENTATION, PUTTING TOGETHER STORIES, COVERS, FASHION SPREADS AND BEAUTY SHOOTS THAT CONNECT WITH PEOPLE. THIS YEAR WE’VE DUG DEEPER INTO THE POWER OF REPRESENTATION. WE SAT DOWN WITH FIVE INCREDIBLE PEOPLE WITH STORIES THAT OFTEN GET BURIED IN THE MAINSTREAM HUSTLE AND CREATED THE SPACE FOR THEM TO NARRATE THE STORY OF THEIR LIVES…

- ARMAN KHAN

Nu

BEYOND THE CORRIDORS OF PRIVILEGE, NU HAS BUILT A COMMUNITY ACUTELY SELF-AWARE OF WHAT IT'S UP AGAINST AND NEVER CEDING GROUND TO AN ABLEIST WORLD 

The greatest stories that have historically resonated with us have perhaps a common denominator: They allow all of us to feel equally and deeply. As one weaves through the stories shared by Nu’s Revival Disability, every story is a ‘great’ one—of lost loves, hating our bodies and loving them. And finding time to nourish our weary eyes with art, reaching out to a loved one without any inhibitions, and the innumerable ways in which disabled folks perceive a world designed to exclude them.

“It was only after forming Revival Disability that I realised my identity and how I place myself in the world,” Nu takes us to the beginning. “Initially, Revival was about empowering myself and then I started asking questions.” What is activism in 2022? Who is included? Are there voices that will always remain relegated to the margins? Gradually, they would realise that these questions have no easy answers. If they were to make sense of a chaotic, able-bodied world, the only way to go about it was to douse themselves in it. “Now, we have around 500 individuals of varying abilities and disabilities in our group, but it has also grown into a space for us to rant about ableism, organisations that are ableist to us, and are microaggressive towards queer and disabled folks.”