I have identified as a feminist as long as I can remember, since I was a little girl and discovered the word and realised it applied to me. But for a long, long time, I never knew anyone else who was feminist. I was too timid to embark on a crusade against the whole world. But I was never entirely silent, and I hoped to grow up and discover my tribe.
I grew up and moved to a bigger city, but I seemed as alone in my feminism as ever. It was only years later, when I discovered blogging, that I found other feminists. Feminist blogs have therefore been responsible for my feminist education. I read only a couple of feminist books, and only discovered those due to blogs. But these blogs — all international, because if there were regular Indian feminism sites ten years ago, I failed to discover them — taught me so much, both the theory and the practice (how to be a better feminist, how to be an ally to other marginalised groups). I also discovered other feminists in India who blogged (they blogged about their personal lives, but were staunchly feminist) and made friends. I met some of them in real life — most of my friends in the last few years have been made online.