Category: My Story | Varta Trust

This image is a combination of a photograph and text extracted from the accompanying article. The photograph is a long-shot of a street in Kingston, Ontario, Canada taken in the dead of the night. The street is empty and mostly shadowy with some street light and light from a near full moon overhead. Houses and shrubs can be seen lining the street, with a car parked on the right side of the street. The text extract says: “The movie theatre is a 25-minute walk from my home in Kingston. The walk that I like to take is on quiet residential streets – tree-lined, silent, and interspersed with faint lights from kitchen windows, rustling leaves, and a darkness that is only possible when a city does not install too many street lamps. I did not notice it at first, but I felt the tears before it actually occurred to me what exactly was happening. In a moment of sheer weakness, I was crying on a street, next to a quiet park. Nobody is out at this hour of night, no cars, no people, no eyes – just me, waterworks on full, and howling at the moon like it could fix something even I could not identify.” Photo credit: Mihir Seth

My Story, Vartanama Jul '26

‘Leviticus’ or why I can never go home

By Mihir Seth

A queer-themed horror film makes Mihir Seth realize that there is no leaving behind memories that make you

This image is an intimate artwork or lithograph featuring two abstract, nude figures holding each other closely. The central figure is viewed from behind, rendered in light skin tones with a soft, coral-pink gradient along their arm and upper back. A second, entirely dark charcoal-coloured figure stands behind and wraps around them, with solid black hands resting on the central figure's lower back and neck. The background is a simple, muted grey with vertical textured lines, enhancing the emotional focus of the embrace. Artwork credit: Europeana on Unsplash

My Story Jul '26

If only time was on their side

By Dr. Sankalpa Satapathy

When time adds to the angst of desire, passion and longing – a sensual sketch by Dr. Sankalpa Satapathy

This is a stark black-and-white photograph featuring a dark silhouette of a person standing centered in front of a vertically rectangular window. The window has white trim and pane dividers, glowing brightly from the outside light. The entire room around the window is a solid, deep black void, creating a heavy vignette effect that focuses entirely on the lone figure looking outward. Photo credit: Sasha Freemind on Unsplash

Insight, My Story Jul '26

Faith and sexuality: The search between them

By Faizan Maniyar

Reconciliation between faith and sexuality can be an unending quest, says Faizan Maniyar

Quote: My first ever tattoo was a jellyfish. It was my most impulsive yet memorable thing I’ve ever done. Everyone asked me why, but I never uttered the reason out loud. It’s a reminder for me that I’m lovable and I’m worthy. Because the first ever time another human saw my scars, they didn’t draw stars around it, they drew a jellyfish. So, every time I look at the tattoo, it reminds me that I’ve come forward and I have people with me as I move. It reminds me of the love I contain in myself, for the people around me.

My Story Jun '26

My body, my canvas

By Sangeetha Elsa

Her body is Sangeetha Elsa’s canvas for silent answers, rebellion, expressions of love and more. Trigger warning – mentions of self-harm

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 Anonymous

The author 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’

Tagged Under: My Story