Category: Insight | Page 2

This illustration is a combination of a photograph and text extracted from the accompanying article. The photograph shows a small rainbow with the six queer pride colours (violet, blue, green, yellow, orange and red) drawn with chalk on a dark grey and stony sidewalk. The accompanying text says: “Clearly, family acceptance interventions must be broad-based and seek to lessen the burden on the parents, who may be just as trapped as their queer child by societal norms. There is nothing like allies emerging from within the family! Allies of not just the queer child, but also the parents. This could make it much easier for the parents to come to terms with their child’s reality.” Photo credit: Alex Jackman on Unsplash

Insight Nov '24

Queer allies in need of allies

By Mahua Seth

Mahua Seth points out the importance of allies within the larger family fold for parents of queer individuals

This horizontal rectangular image is a combination of a photograph and text extracted from the accompanying article. The photograph is to the left and it shows the flame of a fire burning in the dark. The flame is emerging from pieces of firewood. The rising flame is a yellow-orange in colour, while reddish embers can be seen below the firewood. Nothing else is visible as the darkness surrounds the fire. The accompanying text says: “If rules, heteronormative or any other kind, are to apply to desire, whom to desire, how to desire and furthermore, how to act on that desire, then the very essence of desire is stripped away. It restrains the fluidity of desire. However hard one may try, our desire in its unrestricted form cannot be wished away. It is there, sitting, waiting patiently, simmering beneath the surface, making its presence felt; waiting for the person to take cognizance.” Photo credit: László D. on Unsplash

Commentary, Insight Oct '24

Meandering desire

By Dr. Sankalpa Satapathy

Dr. Sankalpa Satapathy asserts that our desires run like a subterranean river and can survive all forms of censorship

This graphic shows a poster made for the promotion of the film ‘Don’t Interrupt While We Dance’. On a scarlet red background, the name of the film in large stylized lettering in yellow and white is juxtaposed against the images of a gun and a dancing human figure, arms splayed. Several pairs of angry eyes symbolizing the damning eyes of the State or a repressive society, stare on in the backdrop, behind the lettering. The name of the filmmaker Anureet Watta is mentioned at the bottom of the poster. Poster design by Sharannya Eledath Mukherji and illustration by Yathaarth Yadav

Cinemascope, Insight Sep '24

How can we be gentle if we aren’t very angry?

By Anureet Watta

‘Don’t Interrupt While We Dance’ is a film about queer and trans joy interrupted by the State, police, and shadows of violence and scrutiny that have always been cast on...

This photograph shows a scene from the re-enactment of the skit ‘Koti Ki Atma’ at Café Adda Ghar, Kolkata on November 4, 2023. Three actors are acting out a scene before a small invited audience. The play is being performed in an open but small and intimate part of the café, lit with a few overhead lamps and other sources of light not visible in the photograph. A black cloth background and a few props form the backdrop behind the actors who are facing the camera. Some of the members of the audience visible in the photograph, half a dozen or so (of the total 40-45), are seated close to the actors on plastic chairs, and have a bemused look as they watch the play up close. A video camera can be seen on the left edge of the photograph recording the play. A photographer, with her camera in hand, is also among the audience, standing just next to the people seated. Darkened tall glass panes forming one of the walls of the café can be seen behind her. A poster of the café menu is pasted on one of the glass panes. Photo credit: Suchandragraphy

From the Archives, Insight Jul '24

Remembered sexual futures

By Diksha Sanyal

Diksha Sanyal summarizes a study on the art and cultural advocacies undertaken by queer community groups in West Bengal in the 1990s and 2000s. The study has been co-developed by...

Quote: Tamil Nadu’s draft gender and sexual minority policy does not simply make a claim for marriage equality for queer persons but nudges the State to reimagine the family beyond kinship and marriage. By doing so it focuses on the functional conceptualisation of the family, namely what families should do, as opposed to the form of the family, namely what families should look like. A functional approach thus seeks to centre values of mutual care, love and dependence as definitive of a family, as opposed to only marriage and biological relatedness. The draft policy thus marks an entry into a radical possibility of family law expanding beyond its narrow normative foundations.

Insight May '24

Queering the family: Tamil Nadu shows the way

By Namrata

Namrata writes about the developments around the Deed of Familial Association in Tamil Nadu and how it can lead to recognition of queer relationships

This photograph shows a mixed-gender gathering of people inside a room at the newly opened Community Art Space in Moirang Lamkhai. Around half a dozen people are seated on colourful rugs and carpets, along the walls of the room. One person, seated with folded legs on a carpet in the centre of the room, seems to be acting out a scene and rendering a dialogue while the others look on. The light grey walls of the room are lit with sunshine streaming in through a window in the far end of the room. A few posters on the Community Art Space adorn the walls. On the far end of the room, an empty three-seater wooden sofa and a foldable chair are placed along the wall. A whiteboard with some writing is placed on the ground along a wall to the left of the photograph. Photo courtesy Matai Society

Insight, Manipur Relief Apr '24

At the juncture of cultures, solidarities and differences

By Saki

Saki reports on the birth of a new creative space for queer-trans people in Moirang Lamkhai junction, which already has a rich history of bringing diverse people together

This image is a sketch of Arvey Malhotra’s face drawn by Rimu Panda and posted on Instagram along with a line that says “Sweet soul, we are all sorry.” In the sketch, a youthful Arvey is looking at the reader, gently smiling and holding up his hands to show nails painted in different patterns and colours. Arvey was a jewellery and nail paint artist. He is wearing a red ring on the ring finger on his left hand. He has a thick mop of hair and is bearded. He is wearing a light brown pullover jacket. The artist has drawn a small white halo above Arvey’s head to the left side of the image. The sketch has a pleasing background of hues of pink, yellow and orange. The image has been slightly edited by the author of the article Mihir Seth

Insight, Vartanama Mar '24

The paradoxical need for queer death

By Mihir Seth

Death by suicide among queer youth should galvanize action to address the global mental health crisis, argues Mihir Seth

This illustration is a combination of a vertically oriented photograph and text extracted from the accompanying article. The photograph shows an evening time long-shot of the city of Aizawl spread across a hillside. The hillside is bedecked with the lights from the houses appearing like jewels. The cloudy sky above the city is filled with shades of violet and blue as the distant horizon is lit up with the last of the sunlight. The entire scene is breathtaking even as it is poignant. The accompanying text says: “I finally saved up a good sum and planned to return to Manipur directly from Aizawl. There was so much heartbreak as I looked back at my stay in Mizoram – there had been much beauty amid the chaos. Before I left, I offered a small sum of money to my Kuki neighbours. They too were from Imphal and their mother was battling cancer. The old woman thanked me and said, ‘God be with you till we meet again.’ This moment made everything that I’d been through worth it for I was filled with purpose and love.” Photo credit: Saki

Insight, Manipur Relief Feb '24

Homecoming again, for healing

By Saki

Saki concludes his account of the communal conflict in Manipur – he returns home after four life-changing months to engage in work that heals others and him

This illustration is a combination of a horizontally oriented photograph and text extracted from the accompanying article. The photograph shows a daytime mid-range shot of a large duck crossing a forest pathway with six of its ducklings. The parent bird can be seen to the extreme right side of the photograph facing left, while the ducklings are walking ahead of or next to the parent bird. One of the ducklings is ahead of the rest, striding confidently away. The pathway is partially lit up with sunlight, while the rest is under the shadow of trees. The extracted text says: “I want to tell all the parents that your responsibility is to ensure your children are safe and loved. Nothing else. You do not have to decide what career your children should pursue, or who they should love or marry, if at all they want to marry. Your children, queer or not, will find their way through life.”

Insight Jan '24

Taking marriage off the checklist of parental duties

By Mahua Seth

Can we look at parenting with wonder and curiosity instead of compulsively controlling our children’s lives, asks Mahua Seth

This illustration is a combination of an artwork created with pen ink and water colour, and text extracted from the accompanying article. The artwork shows the close-up of a young man sitting on one edge of a small brown wooden boat and talking on his mobile phone, holding it against his right ear. The boat is floating in the middle of a deep blue lake, surrounded by mountains and trees. The sky above the mountains is blue-grey. While visually striking, the scene also strikes a somber note. The accompanying text says: “My Aunt Rosemary insisted that I call her so that she could understand what I needed, but I had to carefully plan for the simple act of making a phone call. I couldn’t afford to be heard speaking in Mizo by the neighbours in Thanga, and I had to row out into the lake and make the call from open water where I’d be safe. I shared my plight with my aunt and she reminded me that she’d asked me to live in Mizoram earlier as well.” Artwork credit: Souvik Rakshit

Insight, Manipur Relief Dec '23

Fractured geographies and minds

By Saki

Saki, a young student of history, continues his account of the communal conflict in Manipur and the conflict in his mind when he was compelled to leave the state

This photograph is an example of fine-art photography, consisting of several intersecting frames within an overall frame created by the unpainted red-brown brick walls of a poor household, lit up only with daylight from outside. To the left of the photograph is a woman dressed in a patterned cotton saree, worn in a style common in Bengal, wearing ‘shankha-pola’ in her hands, and leaning against a wall, which seems to be at the entrance of her house. She is looking down at the camera as the photographer seems to be seated on the floor. Her face is shrouded in half-light and she seems to have a grim demeanour. A younger person is seated on the floor next to her holding up a vertically rectangular frame that seems to be made of glass. The person is not visible, only a part of their head and hands holding up the frame are visible in the photograph. The frame shows the portion of an open window with an ornate grill design. Greenery is visible outside the window. Inside, just below the window and next to an unpainted brick wall, food is cooking in a pan placed on a mud ‘chulha’. A ladle is placed in the pan. Next to the ‘chulha’ seems to be a pile of twigs and wood shavings, possibly for use in the ‘chulha’. An interesting interplay of light, shadow and subdued colours dominates the photograph. Photo credit: Debalina

Insight, Policy Matters Nov '23

Domestic violence and disabled women – reflections from the field

By Dr. Nandini Ghosh

Domestic violence and lack of access to legal redress still pose serious challenges to the wellbeing of disabled women in India, says Dr. Nandini Ghosh

This illustration is a combination of two sketches and a small piece of text extracted from the accompanying article. The sketches depict some of the scenes of arson and rioting described by the author in the article. One of them shows a church in the countryside engulfed in smoke, while the other shows a car aflame on a city road and large clouds of smoke rising from the car. Stones and shards are scattered on the road beside the car. No human beings are visible in the sketches. The backdrop in both the sketches includes outlines of the verdant hills rising into the sky that Manipur is well known for. Both the sketches are in grey scale and have been made with pen ink and water colour on art paper. The accompanying text says “An hour into the journey, my eyes blinked to let go the misery they were withholding. It finally dawned upon me that Manipur had meandered away from the one I’d known in my lifetime of around two decades.” Artwork credit: Souvik Rakshit, Pawan Dhall

Insight, Manipur Relief Oct '23

Darkest homecoming

By Saki

A personal account of a survivor of the communal conflict that has engulfed Manipur – the first in a series of stories by Saki, a young student of history

This illustration is a combination of a photograph and text extracted from the accompanying article. The photograph shows a set of six colourful drawings made by children living in one of the trauma response centres for conflict-affected children and youth run by Matai Society in the Bishnupur district of Manipur. The centres are run in association with various relief camps. The drawings display a diversity of imaginations of their creators – a house and a tree beside it, a lust tree with heart signs and a child on a swing hanging from the tree, abstract representation of flowers, hearts, fish, and gift boxes, and even a ship sailing on a blue sea under a blue sky with the sun shining bright. The drawings have been created with pencil colours, crayons, and sketch pens on chart papers. The accompanying text says: “The conflict has lasted beyond four months now. During these excruciating days, many local clubs, youth groups, and NGOs have been running relief camps to host the masses that have become homeless. Most of the displaced hail from the hill-valley buffer area. Despite the goodwill and support from various government and non-government agencies and donors, these camps are struggling to make ends meet because of the sheer numbers of people affected. So many have lost their homes, many others their close ones.” Photo courtesy Matai Society

Insight, Manipur Relief Sep '23

Hope amid loss, pain and anxiety in Manipur

By Matai Society

Matai Society reports on the situation in and around the Bishnupur district of Manipur months into the communal conflict in the state and lists the urgent relief requirements

This illustration is a combination of a photograph and text extracted from the accompanying article. The photograph is of a large blackboard with a light brown wooden frame. At the lower edge of the blackboard, the wooden frame has a ledge on which some chalk and a duster are placed. Text extracted from the accompanying article has been placed on the blackboard image in a typeface to simulate the image of text written with white chalk on a blackboard. The text says: “What can discussions on sexuality in a classroom do? I believe that when we confront sexual difference in the classroom, we learn to understand and respect diversity. Queer perspectives and narratives of pride and suffering open a space not just for acceptance but critical self-understanding. Queer lives are so precarious that even a space bound by a timetable can be liberating. Being acknowledged and validated in a classroom may engender a hope to survive outside it, and sometimes, it is survival that is at stake.” Blackboard image courtesy Cliparts.co via ‘Wikimedia Commons’

Insight, Vartanama Aug '23

For that sliver of hope

By Zaid Al Baset

Making educational institutions inclusive spaces for everyone is an uphill battle, but Zaid Al Baset is not giving up yet – his forecasts on inclusion as ‘Varta’ completes 10 years

This illustration is a combination of a photograph and text extracted from the accompanying article. The photograph shows a panel discussion on kink and polyamory under way at ‘Kink Con Goa’ organized in April 2023. The photograph has been shot such that only the side profiles of the panel speakers are partially visible and all the faces have been blurred to ensure confidentiality. The speakers are looking away from the camera towards the panel moderator. The speakers are seated on a row of chairs along a wood-panelled wall inside a conference hall in a hotel. A large screen on the wall displays the topic of the panel discussion. The accompanying text, presented in an inset placed on the left bottom corner of the photograph, says: “‘Kink Con Goa’ was more than the sum of its parts. It gave Indian kinksters a sense of community beyond geographical borders. It fulfilled a need that had been growing for so long yet nobody was able to articulate what it was – a need to belong. We can be part of a community that is like us, we are not related by blood but in our thoughts, views and hearts.” Photo courtesy Nemo

Insight, My Story Jul '23

Self-esteem, freedom and kink

By Tiara Girl

The experience of ‘Kink Con Goa’, India’s first national kink convention, was transformational, says Tiara Girl

This graphic is a combination of a photograph and text extracted from the accompanying article. The photograph shows a scene from a Woolworths outlet in Johannesburg. Two mannequins clad in t-shirts, jeans and shoes stand next to rows of t-shirts and other clothes. One of the mannequins stands on a pedestal, with a long rainbow pride flag hanging behind it, and a poster in the forefront that says: “Be an ally – celebrating Pride 2023”. The extract of text says: “Pride isn’t about stating that we’re good enough to be accepted a month in a year. Pride is about making sure we’re accepted each and every day all through the year. Corporates play a big role in making that happen. However, when we will see performative allyship, we will call you out and remind you exactly how we contribute to your market. Because not only does our money matter – we matter too.” Photo credit: Debjyoti Ghosh

Insight, Vartanama Jun '23

Show us what pride is really all about

By Debjyoti Ghosh

Debjyoti Ghosh calls upon corporates to demonstrate stronger allyship that transcends anti-queer social and political pressures

Tagged Under: Insight

Queer allies in need of allies

Meandering desire

How can we be gentle if we aren’t very angry?

Remembered sexual futures

Queering the family: Tamil Nadu shows the way

At the juncture of cultures, solidarities and differences

The paradoxical need for queer death

Homecoming again, for healing

Taking marriage off the checklist of parental duties

Fractured geographies and minds

Domestic violence and disabled women – reflections from the field

Darkest homecoming

Hope amid loss, pain and anxiety in Manipur

For that sliver of hope

Self-esteem, freedom and kink

Show us what pride is really all about

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