The last time I went to India I was 17 years old and had just finished high school AKA the worst years of my life. Aside from learning useful life skills like trigonometry or whatever Mr. Yadda Yadda was rambling about in Physics, I learnt the importance of living compartmentalized: the brown me, the god-loving me, the mom-loving me, the queer Madonna-loving me were never to exist together in any space except for my bedroom. This lesson I brought with me into my 20s, including in my music career where I would shy away from the sitars & tablas my producers were eager to record for fear of being perceived as “world music” or not being out in my workplace because “people should leave that shit at home” or dying my hair blonde to “fit in.”
Earlier this year, I put out a little book called God Loves Hair and it was the first project where I allowed all of these parts of me to exist openly and honestly. This step has resulted in living a life that celebrates the complexity of multiple identities, where I can be queer and love a woman, where I can sing Hindu devotional songs and pop songs at shows, where I can live the kind of life I didn’t imagine I could have, that I was shown I couldn’t have, when I was a teenager. #itgetsbetter
Given this theme of worlds colliding/living whole, it feels extremely fitting to be returning to India, just a couple months before I turn the ever looming 3-0, playing shows with my friends/older siblings/inspirations Tegan and Sara AND reading from my book. And I couldn’t be more EXCITED!!!
November 21, Mumbai: God Loves Hair reading (presented by Gay Bombay)
November 23, Mumbai: Direct support for Tegan & Sara
November 25, New Delhi: Direct support for Tegan & Sara
November 27, Bangalore: God Loves Hair reading (Bengaluru Pride)
(Click HERE for more details.)
In this very spirit, I’d like to direct you to the newly redesigned vivekshraya.com (by Simon Crowley) which will features news/updates on all my artistic endeavors including the music, God Loves Hair, Seeking Single White Male and future projects!
Thank YOU for continuing to share this journey with me.
