Queerness and Storytelling in India

Premankur and I discuss our critiques of Bollywood and the representation of LGBTQ+ people in news media. He shares his opinions about companionship and the institution of marriage. P.S. Do check out the new intro voiceover, and let me know how it sounds

Rituparna shares her experiences within the queer activist circles in Delhi. She emphasizes the lack of conversations on race and indigeneity and her changing perceptions of marriage and companionship.

Sandip Roy discusses his writing process and the way in which a story need not conform to expectations of political correctness. He answers specific questions related to the plot of Don't Let Him Know . Sandip also shares some tips on how to make a good podcast!

Kumam recollects the conversations that led to the formation of the Chinki Homo Project. We discuss issues of language, region, ethnicity, and livelihood. Kumam also comments on the political power of anthologies.

Mahajan discusses the importance of care and negotiation in the relationships between children and adults in their books. They also reflect on the making of the anthology, "Facing the Mirror: Lesbian Writing from India," (edited by Ashwini Sukthankar) and unpack the distinctions between liberal thought and economic liberalization.

Maitree Devi shares her insights on the treatment of minorities in India and Bangladesh, particularly the role of personal laws in the lives of minority women. She also discusses the evolution of queer spaces in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and the importance of community formation.

Pawan Dhall shares his insights about the importance of remembering the past. He also acknowledges the shortcomings and the possibilities of pride marches across India.

The co-founder of Chinki Homo Project shares their experiences of being a "vagabond." They also hope that movements will make room for mistakes, rather than only insisting on political correctness.

Tanu shares the challenges of creating queer spaces on the campus. She also comments on the current heritage walk practices.

Nitoo Das reflects on the queer potential of her poems such as "Crowbite" and differentiates between the processes of writing and photographing (birds). She asserts how hierarchies informed by caste tend to shape research. We also discuss the ways in which students have the ability to reiterate the pedagogical nature of street protests and become agents of hope.

Sayantan, a queer-trans writer and journalist reflect on the process of writing and editing. They also revisit their ideas about allyship and research in STEM.

Bittu reflects on how STEM methodology can enable the understanding of human behavior across activist spaces. Being critical of privatization and liberalization, he offers a nuanced take on the New Education Policy. We also discuss parenthood and non-normative forms of kinship.

Raya Sarkar reflects on the conditions and the processes that made LOSHA (the list of sexual harassers in academia) possible in 2017. We discuss the limitations of sexual harassment laws in India and the US and the nuances that may be required to handle perpetrators who are located at the intersections of caste and queerness.

Raj shares his relationship with sport, and the way it intersects with caste and queerness. He reflects on his time in Iowa City, and JNU, Delhi, and the immense possibilities of imagining queerness in alternate family structures involving animals.

In this dialogue, Chintan gives us an impressive list of "queer" books that should be read and cherished. He insists that the best work is happening in the field of children's literature. We discuss the hierarchies of caste, region, and language in the publishing scene, and how that impacts what gets published and by whom.

Moses discusses storytelling and queerness in relation to his film on the Telangana Swabhimana pride parade, Walking the Walk  (2015). He draws connections between the right to self-determination of gender, the fight for Telangana, and the different tribal narratives and customs that inform trans and Dalit politics in the region.

A new episode