Recommended Reading / 42.

Every Monday, words to start the week. 

This week, via the very cool Maptia: "The Pink Vigilantes", an essay on a 10,000-member, all-female gang based in Bundelkhand, a notoriously poor region of Uttar Pradesh, India. United by a common mission to bring justice to the oppressed, the women dress in a uniform of bright pink, arming themselves with traditional Indian fighting sticks called lathis. Though they aren't always peaceful protesters, the women — led by Sampat Pal Devi, a destitute 47-year-old mother of five —insist that theirs is a different sort of "gang" than ones reported on more often in the news. Says member Bhagwati Devi, "One must understand that a gang doesn't always have to be anti-social. Our gang is a team, a team of women in pink."

Story and photographs by Sanjit Das.

Three more, just because:
-The benefits of eating out alone.

-President Obama's summer reading list. (Also: revisiting children's books.)
-From Ashley Brooke Toussant via the brilliant Pep Talk Generator: "SPF 30 always. Stop tanning. Your pale skin is just right. Read books in the shade and everywhere else. Keep that precious brain healthy and active. Keep that side of yourself that needs to listen to 'perhaps lame' music. Remember the good feelings. And all the feelings for that matter. You are lovely, smart and charming. Your older self realizes this more. Know it now."

More recommended reading, here. Have a very happy Monday.