In the small-town imagination, the idea of modernity is borrowed from Bollywood – the feisty Tanu from Tanu Weds Manu, the rebellious Rumi from Manmarziyaan. Where are all the well-rounded girls who are compassionate and caregiving, but fierce and independent? The limitations of this modernity will always come in the way of a small-town MeToo movement.

The 620-km Women’s Wall, protesting against the tradition that bans women from entering Sabarimala Temple despite the SC verdict, is a fitting companion piece to the #MeToo wave. Like #MeToo, the Wall is as much an expression of women that cut through barriers, as it is their means to protest inequality.

The revelation that “the woke” didn’t shy away from being predators behind closed doors and mobile screens was the catalyst for India’s #MeToo movement. Here are extracts from some of our best essays on the subject.

Why do so many women settle for lowball salary offers, far under the value that our experience merits? For all our idealism and outspoken feminism, when it is time to bat for ourselves in the most elementary of ways, why do we consistently fail ourselves?

In progressive industries like mine, few women want to complain against another woman. How was I going to admit, even to myself, that my powerful female boss was a monster, while simultaneously complaining about the lack of women in leadership positions?

My sons and I love watching Bollywood movies together, but finding a film devoid of misogyny, objectification of women, and innuendo is a task. How do I explain to my kids what is wrong with “6 din, Ladki in” when SRK is mouthing it as if it’s the most chivalrous way to woo a girl in Kal Ho Naa Ho?

My daily tally of apologies is likely greater than the number of shimmies in a Katrina Kaif item number. Most of the women I know also dwell in this state of constant apology. Why is “sorry” such an embedded part of women’s vocabulary?

Most heterosexual men are woefully inept at formulating their views about #MeToo. But discomfort is the beginning of introspection. One hopes this phase will lead to stock-taking, and provide men the opportunity to self-reform and become new, more attractive men.

Over the past year, women have done enough talking, outing sexual harassers with courage. But despite that, powerful men get away with million-dollar severance packages. Google Walkout seems to be the answer.

Louis CK and Aziz Ansari returned to the public eye after a self-prescribed sabbatical. A society that welcomes harassers back after a short time-out ensures that they are shielded from meaningful consequences. Will that happen with the predators India’s #MeToo has exposed?