KK SHAILAJA
VOGUE India|November 2020
During her tenure, Kerala’s forward-thinking minister of health and social justice has adeptly handled fi rst the infectious Nipah virus, and now the pandemic. Today, her name features among the small set of women in power who are lauded globally for their response to the crisis.
Manju Sara Rajan
KK SHAILAJA

There are five of us at the table, a party of unlikely companions. At the head sits my trusted taxi driver Sudheer T, I am to his right, then Dr. Latheesh KV, a public health official; on the opposite side, KK Shailaja, the minister for health, social justice, and women and child development in Kerala’s Left Democratic Front-led government, and K Bhaskaran, the minister’s husband. We are seated around an oval table at the minister’s home, eating a late lunch on the first day of the Onam holiday season: two kinds of matta rice, turmeric-hued nadan fish curry, fried river fish, two kinds of vegetables, and three different payasams for dessert, laced with the twang of north Kerala’s Malabar region of Kannur. Sudheer and I have been to many places over the years, but we had never shared a table, and it is for the first time, as guests of KK Shailaja, that we sit and eat together.

Shailaja has come home after months away in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital. When I enter, I notice the boundary wall surrounding her two-story home is short; over the tops of the potted bougainvillea, you can see the health minister sitting in the verandah with her husband. There’s no security detail or mark of pomp. Just two things give a hint of affiliation and significance of the household: the Kerala government-issued Toyota Innova that looks more impressive because of the narrow driveway and a flagstaff with the white-sickle crimson-red flag of the Communist Party. “Have you ever seen a chenkodi in front of a house?” asks her husband. ‘Chenkodi’ is a portmanteau Malayalam word for ‘red flag’. “It is there because it represents everything that our life is about,” he tells me.

Bu hikaye VOGUE India dergisinin November 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye VOGUE India dergisinin November 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

VOGUE INDIA DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
Breathe In, Breathe Out
VOGUE India

Breathe In, Breathe Out

A powerful tool to help you master your nervous system or another biohacking buzzword? SIMONE DHONDY explores the inhalations and exhalations of breathwork

time-read
4 dak  |
November - December 2024
Red Pill, Blue Pill
VOGUE India

Red Pill, Blue Pill

India's nutraceutical industry is booming thanks to advanced technology, distrust of the medical system and rising vanity. With multivitamins becoming purer and more effective, NIDHI GUPTA finds out if supplements have become the new serum

time-read
4 dak  |
November - December 2024
Sign of the times
VOGUE India

Sign of the times

No longer do you need to have an answer to, \"What is the significance of this?\" when people point to your new tattoo. ARMAN KHAN discovers that everything is on the table when you get inked temporarily

time-read
3 dak  |
November - December 2024
Return to form
VOGUE India

Return to form

Watching the world's most elite athletes deliver the best performances of their careers rekindled SONAKSHI SHARMA's own love for sports

time-read
3 dak  |
November - December 2024
Dimple, All Day
VOGUE India

Dimple, All Day

YOU MAY HAVE WATCHED HER ON THE BIG SCREEN FOR OVER FIVE DECADES, BUT DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKE OF ASSUMING THAT YOU KNOW DIMPLE KAPADIA.

time-read
9 dak  |
November - December 2024
MUSIC, TAKE CONTROL
VOGUE India

MUSIC, TAKE CONTROL

As someone who had always sought safety in numbers, ALIZA FATMA often wondered what her own company would feel like. The answer arrived unexpectedly when she attended her first-ever music festival, one of the largest in the world, all alone

time-read
3 dak  |
November - December 2024
Let it grow
VOGUE India

Let it grow

When we think of hardworking farmers toiling in India's scorching heat, we often think of men, the sweat on their brow, the sinews in their arms. JYOTI KUMARI speaks to four women who are championing the invisible female labour that keeps these fields running

time-read
5 dak  |
November - December 2024
YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE
VOGUE India

YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE

When armless archer Sheetal Devi set her sights on the Paralympic Games this year, she knew she had a tough journey ahead of her. Luckily, her mother was with her every step of the way.

time-read
5 dak  |
November - December 2024
Beauty and the feast
VOGUE India

Beauty and the feast

The appeal of Indian weddings has always been in a sprawling spread. For additional bragging rights, Aditi Dugar recommends going beyond designer tablecloths and monogrammed napkins.

time-read
1 min  |
November - December 2024
Sweet serendipity
VOGUE India

Sweet serendipity

From a scavenger hunt-inspired proposal to a Moroccan-themed baraat, Malvika Raj and Armaan Rai's love story prioritised playfulness throughout their blended celebrations.

time-read
4 dak  |
November - December 2024