November 7, 2025 07:20 AM IST
First published on: Nov 7, 2025 at 07:12 AM IST
On the night Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City, ending his victory speech to the clarion call of ‘Dhoom Machale’, between the screaming crowds, the words of Jawaharlal Nehru and the euphoria of a participatory politics, the striking visual we were left with was of the 34-year-old flanked by the women in his life.
Zohran held hands on one side with his wife Rama Duwaji, who he referred to as “hayati” (my life), and on the other with his mother, filmmaker Mira Nair, who joked in a recent interview that she was the “producer of the candidate”. His father, Mahmood Mamdani, stood beside Rama, and all three were embraced on stage by Zohran. It was a heartwarming sight: A brown, mixed-heritage, South- and African-Asian diaspora family, on the dais, flashing million-dollar smiles, minutes after Zohran thanked his parents for making him the man he is today.
This man feels like a breath of fresh air amidst the toxic masculinity propagated by the right-wing politics of the last decade, of the kind that has led to the rise of a certain kind of loud, angry, fearful and fear-mongering man, who has weaponised the epidemic of male loneliness to accumulate personal power and wealth.
This is a man who espouses the worldview behind Elon Musk’s declaration, “the fundamental weakness of Western civilisation is empathy” on The Joe Rogan Experience — incidentally the podcast he gets his politics from. This is a man who echoes the fear of being cancelled for an opinion, a fear that is based on the views his multi-millionaire idols express in their books, podcasts, stand-up shows and media appearances.
This is a man who at the very least dismisses Andrew Cuomo’s 13 sexual harassment allegations, and at most is convinced that “boys will be boys”. He believes that masculinity means looking “macho”, that protein should be consumed as powder and that the only permissible pronouns are alpha/male.
Then, along comes Zohran Mamdani, who can easily be characterised as, if I may be so bold as to use a Gen Z term, a “certified pookie”. He’s a Millennial unafraid of grinning, unembarrassed by TikTok trends, uncompromising in his principles, unabashed in his allyship, unassuming in his demeanour and unfiltered in his joy.
He “simps” for his wife on Instagram, jokes about his failed career as a rapper and can’t bench press 61 kg. He’s also an outspoken feminist, a trans ally, a supporter of the Palestinian cause, a proud Muslim, and a politician who isn’t backed by the money of the oligarchy but by a movement of the people.
Zohran’s masculinity is the antithesis of the manosphere. It’s a masculinity of saying “my brother” over “bro”, of embracing another man because of shared humanity, and not just a shared sense of humour.
It’s a masculinity of smiles over smirks, that shines brightest for supporters with similar values, and yet never looks down on those with dissimilar beliefs.
It’s a masculinity of vulnerability over vitriol, of speaking from a place of empathy rather than a position of anger.
It’s a masculinity of hope over hostility, of compassion as coalition, resilience as resistance and kindness as courage. It’s a healthy, gracious, positive masculinity because it makes space instead of taking up space.
As the world cheers for the politician Zohran Mamdani, I’ll be rooting for the man that he is: A soft boy with values that go hard.
The writer is co-founder and chief, Yuvaa
