there is a storm brewing in the minds of the socalled freakans in kerala the spark was the death of a 19yearold beauty parlour employee vinayakan the youngster from engadiyur thrissur hanged himself possibly due to custodial torture by cops who picked him up on suspicion for being a member of a gang involved in chainsnatching incidents what made him a suspect in the first place was reportedly his unconventional looks his striking hairdo and ear studsmany freakans could very well relate to this look of suspicion and disdain in the eyes of not just cops but others in the society too kerala dgp lokanath behara has abated the fury among the youth to an extent with him asking cops to refrain from moral policing and saying growing hair is an individuals freedom its not the polices duty to order those with different hairstyles to cut them shortbeharas comments came shortly after the alternative folk band oorali organised a gathering named freakzz united at thrissur as a clarion call to people to accept those not sticking to conventions in looks or thoughts we listen in as they tell us about their concerns and the societys stifling attitude towards themfreakans dare to dream beyond the normsoorali singer martin john chalissery says that he believes having long curly hair and beard is a reflection of the youngsters of a civilised society our teenage years are when we most engage our mind and body in creative pursuits its when we dream about our future and life we should support their pursuits rather than squashing them literally he sayschoosing what to wear be it vibrant patiala pants with accessories or something simple is part of the creative process that makes people confident in who they are he says adding that youngsters have the right to decide what they want to do with their liveswe live in a secular democratic nation where everyone has the freedom to live and wear what they want moral policing curbs all that and there should be a law against those crushing the backbone of the younger generations who are dreaming of a world beyond norms he saysthe word freakan a malayalam derivative of freaks according to martin is a term encompassing people who are unique in their thoughts and free to the core its not an offensive word at all its an umbrella term for those who love and have the potential to create new roads in the society he saysdont judge people by their lookslooks should not be the criterion to define a person says professional photographer ashok fabiano who was booked by kumali police in 2012 as he looked suspicious with long locks and beardi was working for the governments grand kerala shopping festival at the time cops picked me up the first question they angrily asked me was which terrorist group do you belong to how could one conclude someone is a criminal just by looking at the length of his hair or