Category: My Story | Varta Trust

Quote: Writings about gender, sexuality, health issues, and human rights may not have a wide appeal, or the form of my writing may not have many takers. And then there are the digital distractions – why read when you can reel? Which is why the thought of fiction writing seems exciting. I could be writing about the same issues as before but presenting them differently, or I could be writing about the ‘intimate’ aspects of the same issues as before – aspects that are real but have not found space in my writing about real issues.

My Story, Vartanama Feb '26

On fiction writing and fictionality

By Pawan Dhall

Pawan Dhall shares his thoughts on the possibility of treading a new writing pathway

This image consists of a horizontally rectangular photograph and text extracted from the accompanying article. The photograph is placed in the upper half of the image and the text in the lower half. The photograph shows a number of heart-shaped paper cutouts, deep red in colour, stringed in a series on a thick thread of the same colour. The thread stretches across the photograph against a dark grey background. The cutouts are of different sizes. Their colour makes for a striking contrast against the background. The text says: “It's been a while since I left the NGO, but I still have the people who gave me a space and taught me it’s okay to seek help. It isn’t always pretty, not always sunshine and rainbows, and sometimes it gets ugly and tangled. At the end though, the feeling of belonging to that tangle of hearts – that’s my queer joy. When surviving becomes difficult, this joy helps me breathe, it helps me live my politics.” Photo credit: Jonny Gios on Unsplash

My Story, Vartanama Jan '26

When I stopped surviving alone

By Sangeetha Elsa

Sangeetha Elsa travelled miles but found friendship and queer joy nearer home in a tangle of hearts

This illustration includes text extracted from the accompanying article superimposed on a vertically rectangular image of a musty grey wall, scarred and pockmarked in places. The image is symbolic of the wall described by the author in their article. The text extract says: "Together, the writings made a wall that refused erasure. Not aesthetic, but insurgent. Not decoration, but documentation. A manifesto of madness, queerness, resistance, and everything else the law school had no vocabulary for.” Background image credit P R on Unsplash

My Story Aug '25

The wall that held me

By Risha

Risha writes about their relationship with a scarred wall full of personal and political writings in their university hostel room

This image is a combination of a photograph and text extracted from the accompanying article. The mid-range photograph shows filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh smiling, looking at and speaking to someone outside the frame. Other people can be seen in the background, suggesting it to be a public occasion. The filmmaker seems to be seated on a chair. He is wearing spectacles, a head wrap, and a scarf, all black in colour, paired with a grey-brown patterned shirt. The accompanying text says: “For me, Rituparno was a crossing, a journey between borders. Not India, not Bangladesh. Not man, not woman. Not familiar, not foreign. Somewhere in between, a new way of understanding emerged. What connected us wasn’t language or geography, but a shared longing. A shared desire to become.” Photo credit: Bollywood Hungama via ‘Wikimedia Commons’

My Story Jul '25

Rituparno Ghosh: Seen, unseen, and known in my own way

By Tara Asgar

In Rituparno Ghosh and his cinematic work Tara Asgar finds a shared longing to become something beyond binaries

This illustration is a square-shaped collage created from scraps of magazine articles and photographs. Two post boxes, one in red and black, and another in red, peach and black colours, are superimposed on a background created by images of flowering shrubs in gardens, tall trees, and cotton white clouds in a blue sky. The post boxes seem to be floating in mid-air, perhaps conveying a sense of lightness of being. Scattered, random text can be seen on the post boxes. Someone is standing right behind the all-red post box; just their arms visible on the sides of the post box, which seems to have become part of their persona. Artwork credit: Tanvir

My Story Nov '23

Imagining queer futures in letters

By Tanvir

Tanvir on the role played by letters and the emotions contained in them (or attached to them) in queer community building

This photograph shows the author Amrita Sarkar conducting a sensitization session on transgender health with the staff of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi earlier this year. In a conference hall lit brightly with ceiling lights, around 30 AIIMS staff members of different genders are seated in two columns. The author is standing in the aisle between the two columns, and appears to be answering the question of one of the staff members. In the background, the main entrance to the conference room, two curtained windows, and a side door are visible. A camera fixed on a tripod stand is also visible, close to the main entrance. Photo courtesy AIIMS

My Story Oct '23

How my tomorrow should look like

By Amrita Sarkar

A decade into the future, Amrita Sarkar wants the trans and queer movements to focus their energies on mental health and geriatric concerns

This illustration is a combination of a photograph and text extracted from the accompanying article. The photograph, a daytime selfie shot, shows the author Mahua Seth with her son Mihir Seth on a holiday trip. Mother and son, both bespectacled, are all smiles as they look into the camera. Behind them is a sweeping expanse of mountains marked with patches of vegetation, reflecting the bright sunlight. The sky above is a hazy blue marked with cotton white clouds. The accompanying text says: “It became clear to me that we need to build more awareness across every section of society. The Nigerian Igbo communities got it right when they said “It takes a village to raise a child.” We need to work with the parents, of course, but also the uncles, aunts, teachers, coaches, colleagues and neighbours. Photo credit: Mahua Seth

My Story Aug '23

Building a better future with safe spaces, empathy and hugs

By Mahua Seth

As ‘Varta’ webzine turns 10, Mahua Seth imagines a more caring and affirming future, not just for queer people but also their parents and families

Quote: Somewhere amid all these positives, I also expect queer people with disabilities to be more visible, do well in life, and not be silenced in both queer and disability communities. Homophobic, transphobic and ableist people will still be around, but they may well be pushed to the fringes. A decade hence we may sit down and compare the predictions made by various authors on the pages of Varta and calculate the percentage of those that have come true.

My Story Aug '23

Cautious predictions for 2033 CE

By Rajib Chakrabarti

On ‘Varta’ webzine completing 10 years, Rajib Chakrabarti writes about the changes he expects to see for queer people and persons with disabilities a decade from now

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 photograph is a daytime mid-shot that shows the author Meghna Mehra seated on a stage for a book reading session during a queer art event in Delhi. She has a book open on her lap, held with her left hand, and a microphone in her right hand. She smiles as she speaks looking at the audience, which is not visible in the photograph. The backdrop includes a rainbow pride flag; red, white and yellow balloons; a standee flex banner for the event; and a couple of tall house plants – all placed against a glass wall. Some more greenery and cars can be seen parked beyond the glass wall, outside the event venue. The event in question is ‘The QUART Project – Red Festival 2.0’ held in 2018. Photo courtesy The QUART Project

Insight, My Story Sep '21

Getting to know the asexuality spectrum

By Meghna Mehra

Meghna Mehra talks about issues around asexuality through her personal account of coming out as asexual

This graphic shows a multi-coloured word cloud with an oval shape. The word cloud has been created with text from or related to the article that this graphic represents. Words and expressions used in the word cloud include ableism, access, anxiety, coronavirus, counselling, COVID-19, disabilities, distress, inclusion, lockdown, loss, mental health, new normal, pandemic, quarantine, queer, relationships, services, stress, success, trigger, war-metaphors, wellbeing, WFH (which stands for work from home), win and zoomed out. The text is presented in a typeface that somewhat jars and symbolizes stress. The text slopes upwards from left to right. The word cloud is placed on a dark background that helps the lettering standout. Graphic credit: Pawan Dhall

My Story May '20

Epidemic of wins and losses over viruses (and disabilities)

By Dr. Ishan Chakraborty

Ishan Chakraborty opens up about multiple distresses as a person with disabilities during the coronavirus lockdown but wishes not to be crowned a ‘hero’

My Story Jul '19

Of reflexivity and remembrance: 20 years of pride

By Diksha Sanyal, Namrata

Diksha Sanyal and Namrata on the 20th anniversary of ‘Friendship Walk ‘99’

This photograph shows the author on stage enacting an Odissi ‘abhinaya’ to a popular song ‘To Lagi Gopa Danda’. She is in a kneeling posture with the right knee touching the floor and the other folded (‘abhanga’ posture); she has her arms in a wide open stance with hands placed squarely on the knees and torso tilted to the right; her gaze is fixated to her left, away from the camera. Against a dark stage background, she looks resplendent in a deep red saree, silver ornaments and headgear traditional to the Odissi dance form. With eyes highlighted strikingly with kohl, she has a bright smile as she performs the act with grace. Photo credit: Kaushik Mukherjee

Dance, My Story Dec '18

For that balancing act on stage and in life

By Dr. Subhamita Maitra

Dr. Subhamita Maitra on the power of dance to rejuvenate body and mind

This illustration is a combination of a photograph of the author Sujoy and one of his quotes extracted from the article. In the photograph (to the left of the illustration), Sujoy can be seen standing with his crutches (partially visible) against a wall covered with a climbing plant. He has his face slightly turned away from the camera, with a gentle smile and distant look in his eyes. He is wearing a full-sleeved ‘kurta’, magenta in colour. Tattoos on his chest are partially visible through the collar of the ‘kurta’. This is a day time photograph. The accompanying quote says: “Let’s talk about confidence. It may not guarantee success but may well keep you motivated towards it. It can contribute big time in bringing positivity into your lives. It was no different for me. Financial independence did boost my confidence, which helped me accept my disability and queerness. I realized if I was comfortable with myself, I could expect others to come closer.” Photo courtesy Sujoy

My Story Sep '18

Awakening disabled desires

By Sujoy

Coming out of self-victimization helped Sujoy discover a whole new sexual world

My Story Feb '18

Match-making between dating and disabilities

By Dr. Ishan Chakraborty, Prosenjit Pal

Ishan Chakraborty narrates his experience of attending an innovative meet-up in Kolkata that aimed to help people with disabilities find friends and dates

Quote: The idea is to assess what impact the movements have had on people's lives nearly 25 years down the line, and if there are any lessons to be drawn for the future. At the very least the article will try to document a few micro stories of queer individuals and their allies for whatever the worth of such narratives.

My Story Dec '17

Do you have a ‘queerstory’ to tell?

By Pawan Dhall

Pawan Dhall on a story writing venture that will record the impact of eastern India’s queer movements in the 1990s on people’s lives

Tagged Under: My Story