Kohima: The Birds and Bees Talk (TBBT), officially launched Asia’s first Consent Café at the Hornbill Festival 2024. Hosted at Kisama Heritage Village, the café aims to foster conversations around consent, equity, and healthy relationships, blending traditional Naga heritage with modern values.
Reckitt, a global leader in health and hygiene, marked its third consecutive year as the official Health Partner of the Hornbill Festival, which is expected to draw over 150,000 visitors from December 1 to 10.
Speaking to media persons, Ravi Bhatnagar, Director of External Affairs and Partnerships, Reckitt South Asia, highlighted the transformative journey of TBBT over the past five years. The program, launched to equip adolescents with critical life skills, addresses taboo subjects such as “good touch and bad touch,” gender equity, and healthy relationships, aiming to reshape public health outcomes, including reducing diseases like HIV/AIDS.
“TBBT has reached over 4 million young people across 10 Indian states, including six in the Northeast,” Bhatnagar disclosed. The initiative will expand the Consent Café concept to 10 states by 2025, integrating cultural and digital strategies to make its messaging relatable. In Nagaland, the program features comic characters inspired by tribal heritage, bridging traditional values with contemporary education.
The Consent Café offers an immersive experience, combining light, music, and art to encourage reflection on the meaning of consent in fostering healthy connections. This initiative gains importance amid rising gender-based crimes in India, with over 28,811 complaints of rape, sexual harassment, stalking, and cybercrimes reported in 2023, according to the National Commission for Women.
In addition to the café, Durex TBBT will host a series of dynamic events at the festival:
TBBT Music Carnival: Local talents, including Moko Koza, Eva Rongmei, and Keneisenuo, will perform at Imagiland, alongside the launch of a new rap album.
AI-Powered WhatsApp Chatbot: An AI-based chatbot will be launched to provide adolescents with reliable information on consent and comprehensive sexuality education, adhering to UNESCO’s global standards.
2nd Edition of Painting Competition: Young artists will showcase their creativity around themes of inclusion, protection, awareness, and equity.
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Durex TBBT Arena: The festival’s largest health pavilion will feature interactive sessions and life-sized comic characters inspired by the five Naga tribes—Angami, Sumi, Chakhesang, Ao, and Lotha—bringing vital conversations to life in a culturally relevant manner.
Bhatnagar emphasised that the Hornbill Festival offers an ideal platform to integrate traditional wisdom with modern education, reinforcing Reckitt’s commitment to fostering informed, progressive, and empowered future generations in the Northeast and beyond.
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