'Our minds wanders into wrong places, we lose focus and it's uncomfortable'

“The people who are not girl or boy- who are they? How do we identify them? We have few kids in our school who are like that. I just want to understand how it is possible?”

The session on ‘My body is growing’ with the participants of Government School in Mohan Garden began with a quick energizer. As against other community spaces and Government Schools, here we were given less than 2 hours; the activities were modified accordingly.

The participants were divided into groups of 4 to engage in ‘Body map’ activity followed by discussion on 5 questions in their respective groups. After this, they were invited to share their discussion points with the entire group.

First time when I came to know I am a boy-

‘When I saw my private part, then I came to know that I am a boy’

‘I got to know I am a boy because of my voice as boys and girls sound differently’

‘I asked my father, he told me that I am a boy’

‘When I was a child, I didn’t know the difference between a girl and boy. After that, when I grew up my neighbor told me that I am boy’

‘I came to know that I am a boy because girls and boys wear different hairs and clothes’

‘I don’t remember a particular incident when I came to know that I am a boy, however my parents were aware of me being a boy. Slowly and steadily growing up made me realize that I am a boy’

‘When I was in nursery class, I used to call girls of my class didi. I used to wonder why they don’t address me as didi, so I asked my teacher. She said that you are a boy so no one would call you didi’

Good things about growing up-

‘We grow in height’

‘I have started learning things initially I didn’t used to understand what was taught in the class’

‘I can lift heavy things because I am strong now’

‘Our body changes, private parts develop’

Bad things about growing up-

‘We don’t remain as energetic as before, pimples all over our face’

‘Hairs grow everywhere, there are hairs on penis they cause itching’

‘Because we are having body changes, many a times- we don’t feel like studying, our mind wanders and we invest time in unnecessary things.’

‘Penis growth is a problem sometimes’

‘We talk about bad things, tease girls engage in wrong activities’

Challenges of growing up-

‘The biggest challenge about growing up is attraction, we fall in love’

‘We fall in bad company, do wrong things’

This was the most enthusiastic bunch of 75+ boys we ever engaged with! They were bubbling with questions and curiosities.

“I have heard this word sex, what does that mean? When do we have sex? How are babies borne?”