Indian society has long stifled the Queer expression and our way of communicating with the world. Therefore, the idea of stand up performances as a medium of expression…the Queer expression… is something I can never give a miss. So, this very inclination led me to Mumbai last weekend where the gorgeous and famed founder of Queer Ink, Ms Shobhna was holding a book fair and a Queer Open Mic event as part of the fair festivities.

Picture courtesy : Queer Ink
To begin with, I loved the book fair and was surprised to see the sheer number of books on the LGBTQ subject: from English authors to foreign, from fictional to personal, simple words to graphics. Funnily enough, it brought back memories of the days when I used to search book stores and libraries for an LGBTQ section and was often left disappointed, only to realize today that they always existed, we just needed someone to point them out.
Moving on to the Queer Open Mic event, to be honest it was a mixed bag of feelings.
Good stuff: Verse and prose that explored themes of gay love and desire, songs of concealed desire. Most amusing was Aham’s coming out episode to his mother in law and that too on a social networking site. Then there was the almost orgasmic recitation of M. Svairini’s poetry “Pedestal” by the lady herself. And then there was the Gaysi gang of girls. Yes, we ladies did our best to entertain and advertise.
Not so good stuff: I was very disappointed to see the turn out (few as audience and even fewer performers). This made me wonder, why the heck do they call this city the gay capital?
Now not to start with the age old Dilli vs. Mumbai debate here, but Delhi really is far more eclectic in this sense. And my splendid experience at the Nigah Queer café evening holds enough weight to back my words. Packed space, “Straight” support & participation, over enthusiastic performers, and the list goes on.
I always thought that there were many like me who craved for such spaces where one could meet new people, exchange thoughts, ideas, and have a fun time out of the closet. But I am not too sure if this sits well with the sensibilities of majority of the Queer folks in Mumbai city, especially women. Yes, Gay parties are good but not enough, in my opinion. Is it the fear of coming out in public? Or just the lack of interest in a creative, stimulating, intelligent and vibrant space? Beats me.
Another personal observation was the lack of any sense of queer community there. I did not see any other queer organization except a couple of folks from the Humsafar Trust. In Delhi at any such event, we see participation from almost all known Queer groups, be it in the background or the forefront. The efforts of ‘The Delhi queer pride committee’, ‘Pink Delhi’, ‘Nigah’ and various others for making the Delhi queer scene so colorful and engaging should not only be appreciated but also exemplary.
We are part of the 21st century, we are almost done with IPC 377 and we need collective voices for representation if we wish to bring the society in sync. Unfortunately, in Mumbai it appears the queer groups operate in isolation, and unity only exists to give an impression of harmony.
It’s commendable what Queer Ink did for the city and its Queer junta. And even more commendable that they did all, almost single handily. Mumbai, you should be lucky.
Give it a few years.. has Mumbai’s festivities been going on for a long time? If it’s just in its first few years, it takes a while to build up a fan base (i.e. audience)..
I’m so psyched to hear that it happens at all!
Chicklet: I totally agree with you. In fact, that weekend — there was another event at Azaad Bazaar and I actually wondered why we actually don’t co-ordinate to have better support and also have better audience.
The events become so about the person (which is great) and less about the community and it might be nice to put the community up there too!
Or maybe its a question of time. Holding a two day event on a weekend leaves no personal time… Am not really sure what the answer is. But that’s my take on it!
Hey All,
Just to make things clear, the event at Azaad Bazaar on the weekend in question was the all-Bandra Art Conspiracy that was held across the suburb which was planned several months in advance.
But to answer the question… the idea of having packed weekends in the same neighborhood (we were 5minutes away from the Queer Ink Event) means that people have double the reason to come to the area and check out both events, which is what happened. Neither event suffered, in fact i think we both benefited from the added traffic to the neighborhood. There are more than enough people in Mumbai to support all the events taking place. Let’s try to look at the bright side of things! Hugs to you all!
Sim,
While I agree with you — that no event suffered… I was giving my personal opinion only because like on that weekend I was running short on time and I couldn’t make it to AB. Which was sad:(
It was just a comment…. and wondering.:) I am totally looking at the brighter side!
@TT and @ Simran : while i totally agree with Simran that two events in the same neighborhood added more flavor to the happy gay weekend; i still felt that there’s still a need of greater community support. That said, i hope Azaad Bazaar will hold more such events in the future coz it was truly fun 🙂
@QC i would prefer taking away these awesome super sexy women from mumbai and bringing them to delhi.. aww.. now am not too sure if you would approve of that 😉 and baby you so should have seen TT’s performance that night. it was super sultry..
@Neela Aasman the heat is on. soon to turn into a revolution. with pride marches scheduled in every city; its gonna be electric and happy maddening everywhere 🙂
THat must be why they call it dilwalon ki delhi 🙂 …must be all that enthusiasm. I’m sure one day Mumbai will get there. 😛
Chicklet – I vote you write book titled “Gay Delhi” …take back the queerness from mumbai and all that! I have vested interests in neither but I am all for a good fight 😀
That said, a nod to the Gaysi Ladies for their adorable creativeness 😀 Awww…
*Nudging Chicklet’s shoulder, Ruffling MJ’s hair, Pinching Tappy’s cheeks [the ones up north]* Good on u !
Delhi vs Mumbai… the battle is on for the gayest city in India 🙂 i bet Delhi will win 😛 🙂
It takes a few years. Also, people tend to hear from others before venturing out. You know what I mean. A lot of them want to know what the space is like before getting out to attend this event.
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