Category: Vartanama | Varta Trust

Quote: As the ‘Mahad Satyagraha’ enters its centenary celebrations, it is more important than ever to question our origin stories of mainstream articulations of queerness. Not necessarily to doubt or question the intentions of senior activists, but to expand our imagination beyond queer exceptionalism. After all, how do we separate the stigma of sexuality from the violence of caste? And silence or obfuscation of history is also violence, no less than non-acknowledgment or denial of queerness.

Repetition with a difference / A what if origin story

By Sayan Bhattacharya

Can we reimagine the annual celebrations of queer pride beyond sexual stigma and instead draw inspiration from the history of anti-caste movements, asks Sayan Bhattacharya

Quote: The election season, with all its usual gimmicks and phrases like ‘nari shakti’ doing the rounds again, motivated us to speak to diverse groups of women – students, working professionals, disabled working professionals, domestic workers, informal workers and housewives. Each with a distinct lived experience and lived expertise, which we sought in order to frame our policy recommendations. ‘Women’s welfare’ is public policy’s favourite word, but what do women really want?

Insight, Vartanama May '26

Women and the State: Welfare, safety and everyday life in Bengal

By Indrani Chatterjee, Nivedita Biswas

What do women in West Bengal want in terms of social security – highlights from a study conducted just before the recent Legislative Assembly elections

This is a daytime mid-range shot of the author holding a handwritten poster at a public protest organized at Jantar Mantar, Delhi on March 29, 2026 against the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026. The author is standing facing the camera. In bold and colourful letters on a white background, the poster headline says “Viksit Bharat, Transphobic Bharat” with the first two words distinctly crossed out. Next to the headline, there is more text that says, “#Reject Trans Bill 2026” and “#NoGoingBack”. All around the author, there is a large crowd of protestors numbering at least 100. Further into the background, a stage has been erected for protest speeches, with a long protest banner forming the backdrop. Tall trees provide shelter for the protestors against the strong sun. Photo credit: Professor Harikarthik Ramesh

Vartanama Apr '26

What are rights without the right to self-identify one’s gender?

By Sudhasri Yadavalli

Sudhasri Yadavalli analyses the systemic harms likely to result from the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Act, 2026

This is a horizontally rectangular graphic that shows a banner prepared for a community protest planned against the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026 on March 15, 2026 from 5.00 pm at Ranu Chhaya Mancha in Central Kolkata. On a background of blue, pink and white stripes, the colours traditionally associated with transgender rights, the banner headline in bold black says “Transgender Communities Reject Trans Amendment Bill, 2026”. Below the headline are three hashtags ‘gather’, ‘agitate’, and ‘nogoingback’. Below the hashtags, the event date, time and venue are mentioned. A tagline at the bottom says “We are not a diagnosis. Our identities are not up for approval.” On the bottom right corner of the graphic, three fisted hands raised in protest and a red loudspeaker can be seen. Graphic credit: QT* Strategizing Group for Trans Bill 2026

Happenings, Vartanama Mar '26

Transgender communities reject Trans Bill 2026

By QT* Strategizing Group for Trans Bill 2026

Media advisory issued by a network of trans and queer individuals and collectives in West Bengal to oppose the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026

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 photograph is a daytime long shot of the ‘Budapest Pride 2025’. Literally, a sea of people dressed in diverse colours, carrying queer pride banners and rainbow umbrellas can be seen approaching and walking across a bridge in the heart of Budapest. The walkers are moving away from the camera, with one or two facing the camera to take photographs. Bright sunlight shines on the walkers as they march past tall buildings on either side of the road, on to the bridge. Dense greenery can be seen on the far side of the bridge forming an imposing green backdrop. Photo credit: European Greens – Andras Mayer, sourced from Wikimedia Commons

Vartanama Dec '25

Power in hope

By Mahua Seth

Mahua Seth on the emergence of queer resilience in response to the setbacks that marked queer lives in 2025 across the world

Quote: The scholarship will offer needs-based support for one or more of the following: Tuition fees (partial / full amount), basic academic necessities, expenses for travel, accommodation, meals, necessary tools for learning (for candidates opting for vocational training) and other incidental costs that act as hidden barriers preventing students from accessing and continuing education (subject to a specific maximum amount per person in a year). It will provide support for queer and trans inclusion in educational institutions, academic continuity, skill-based training for livelihood, and pathways into dignified employment.

Vartanama Nov '25

New Dawn Queer-Trans Education Scholarship Programme

By Varta Economic Inclusion Mentoring Forum

Excerpts from the concept note of Varta Trust’s formal and vocational education scholarship programme for socioeconomically disadvantaged queer-trans Individuals in West Bengal

Poetry, Vartanama Oct '25

Oxbow lake

By Sanjib Basu

Sanjib Basu feels an intimate identification with a unique geographical formation

This illustration is a combination of a daytime indoor photograph and text extracted from the accompanying article. The photograph is a mid-range shot of a flooded landing of a small apartment building in Kolkata. The photograph has been taken from higher up on the stairs, with the banister on the left side of the stairs and a wall on the right side. Translucent brown water lit up by a tube light floods the landing up to the first step and the elevator shaft. The elevator gate is shut and the elevator itself has been switched off and stationed on a higher floor. A partially submerged bicycle stands at the bottom of the stairs. A grilled gate leading out of the landing is closed. The accompanying text says: “The elderly and the disabled who must live on the ground floor saw their rooms flooding, while those who live on the upper floors, found the elevators not working. I wonder how people with mobility issues would have managed, but the media outlets did not find it fit to cover these concerns. Instead, they showed visuals of Durga Puja pandals affected by the waters.” Photo credit: Pawan Dhall

Vartanama Sep '25

Flood of despair and indifference

By Shampa Sengupta

Shampa Sengupta writes about what the recent flooding in Kolkata meant for people with disabilities and the all-round disregard for their concerns

This is a mid-range photograph of a community dialogue on dementia awareness underway at Storyteller Bookstore in South Kolkata on August 23, 2025. The dialogue was organized by the mental health peer counsellors associated with Varta Trust. On the left, Nilanjana Maulik, Secretary of the Calcutta Chapter of the Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Society of India, is seated on a chair. She was the main speaker and can be seen smiling and talking to the participants in an animated manner. Around a dozen individuals, a mix of different genders and part of a larger audience not seen in the photograph, are seated in a semi-circle on chairs facing the speaker and listening attentively. A large TV screen can be seen behind the speaker displaying a slide from her presentation. An open laptop and some books can be seen placed on a low desk next to the speaker. Brightly coloured walls and book shelves of the bookstore make up the backdrop. The bookstore is lit up in a cheerful golden yellow light. Photo credit: Swati Das

Happenings, Vartanama Aug '25

From stigma to support: Talking dementia in queer and transgender communities

By Pawan Dhall, Sahil

Pawan Dhall and Sahil report on an interactive session on understanding and coping with dementia held recently in Kolkata

Quote: What then are our expectations from life? I mean, apart from wanting Section 377, IPC to be struck off; apart from wanting recognition from our ‘straight’ fellow humans; apart from rights, space and privacy . . . What is it that each of our personal selves yearns for? Can we classify our desires into two broad divisions of love and sex? Does social sanction hold a lot of importance for us?

From the Archives, Vartanama Jul '25

Random thoughts 30 something years ago

By Pawan Dhall

On ‘Varta’ webzine’s 12th birthday, Pawan Dhall shares excerpts from an editorial published in the webzine’s predecessor ‘Pravartak’ in 1995

This photograph shows a long-shot of an evening sky taken from the window of the south-western corner room that the author occupies in his new home on the third floor of a building. The sky outside is a deepening blue-velvet, with some clouds in the horizon tinged with the light pink and orange of a setting sun not visible in the photograph. A silhouetted pine tree occupies centre stage against the sky, with more trees and the upper floors and rooftops of buildings in the neighbourhood visible in the background. Some of the buildings are silhouetted against the sky, while one of them has windows lit from inside. In the foreground are the awning and the horizontal railings of the author’s window. The railings are placed quite wide apart and add to the drama of the view rather than interrupt it. The photograph conveys a sense of evening calm before the darkness takes over. Photo credit: Pawan Dhall

Vartanama Jun '25

‘Kalbaisakhi’ and the crow

By Pawan Dhall

Pawan Dhall on the views and viewpoints he has come across and dwelt on since he moved to a new residential address a year ago

This image shows a still from the award-winning documentary film ‘Amma’s Pride’ directed by Shiva Krish. In the image, Srija, the main protagonist of the film is seen smiling and talking on her mobile phone, while Valli, her mother, looks on standing next to her also smiling brightly. Mother and daughter are both inside their house, and in the background can be seen sundry household objects placed on shelves or hanging on walls. The background objects have been slightly blurred to enhance the focus on Srija and Valli. Image courtesy Shiva Krish

Happenings, Vartanama May '25

Pursuing resilience, embracing hope

By Meghjit Sengupta, Pawan Dhall

Meghjit Sengupta reflects on an event centred around award-winning documentary ‘Amma’s Pride’, the story of transgender woman Srija whose marriage to Arunkumar, a cisgender man, in 2019 set a legal...

This indoor mid-range photograph shows drag artiste Ahon Gooptu acting out a scene from the show ‘Item’. The performance space is a room painted white, with wooden furniture, a door and two windows polished brown; the room has a tiled floor and a high ceiling with beams running criss-cross. The room has a blue and white, staid ambient light. A lightly bearded and moustachioed Ahon is dressed in a light-coloured saree, full-sleeved blouse, light jewellery on his neck, wrists, fingers, and ears, and designer footwear; his shoulder-length hair is curly and untied. Ahon is seated at a wooden table, one leg over the other. The table top is cluttered with a table lamp illuminating the wall next to it, a painted flower vase with artificial flowers, a small wooden case, a couple of Japanese hand fans, and four sets of blingy goggles. Ahon has a pensive, far-off look as he mouths some dialogues. A few greeting cards and cutouts are pasted on the wall next to the table. One of them, with rainbow hues, says “Fab Yule Us”, while another says “You’re a cut above the rest.” A little distance behind Ahon is a full-length, wooden-framed mirror placed in a corner against the wall. Two windows, their shutters closed, can be seen on the walls next to the mirror. A pink dupatta and a blanket with two shades of green hang from a beam on the ceiling adding to the colourful but restrained ambience. Photo credit: Abhilasha Das

Insight, Vartanama Apr '25

Zenia, ‘Item’ and the future of the (western) queer dream

By Mihir Seth

Mihir Seth fears the dream of being oneself is crumbling as queer and transgender rights face setbacks globally

Quote: The value of oral histories is especially significant for socially marginalized communities whose stories are often silenced, distorted, or wiped out by the dominant groups. The very act of remembering and narrating can be seen as an act of defiance against silencing. We need to do more and more of oral histories – narrate, record, disseminate, and even re-narrate our stories far and wide. When a story becomes like a living organism, the task of silencing becomes more difficult for those who want only one narrative to survive.

Vartanama Mar '25

Memory works

By Pawan Dhall

Pawan Dhall on the many hues of remembering – personal, political, accepting imperfections and more

Tagged Under: Vartanama

Repetition with a difference / A what if origin story

Women and the State: Welfare, safety and everyday life in Bengal

What are rights without the right to self-identify one’s gender?

Transgender communities reject Trans Bill 2026

On fiction writing and fictionality

When I stopped surviving alone

Power in hope

New Dawn Queer-Trans Education Scholarship Programme

Oxbow lake

Flood of despair and indifference

From stigma to support: Talking dementia in queer and transgender communities

Random thoughts 30 something years ago

‘Kalbaisakhi’ and the crow

Pursuing resilience, embracing hope

Zenia, ‘Item’ and the future of the (western) queer dream

Memory works

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