Love In the Times of AFSPA: Irom Sharmila’s Overlooked Humanity

What are heroes made of?

The canvas of their existence must obviously be larger than life. Their eyes should shine with steely resolve, the mouth set into lines of firmness. A noble brow must be the facade behind which lie bulletproof convictions. They should be half phantom, half legend – untouchable.

Heroes don’t hurt. Or fall in love.

Except, what if they do?

Journalist Anubha Bhonsle’s book Mother, Where’s My Country: Looking for Light in the Darkness of Manipur is the tale of one such hero. In a chat with The Quint, Bhonsle opens up about her long-term association with the ‘Iron Lady of Manipur’ and her fifteen-year-long hunger strike, and we find out that true heroism is all-too-human.

(Video Editor: Kunal Mehra)