How much glitter does your make up have?
A palpable excitement has overtaken me. Later today, I will be attending my first ever drag performance in Chennai. The participants and organisers (Sunshine House) that has curated the event, have promised a line-up that reeks of splendour.
My first tryst with drag queens was during a trip to London at Peckham, a mostly Black neighbourhood. In their stunning make-up, up-dos, and shiny clothes, they found ways to playfully tease every table. The night ended with hugs and selfies with the performers. I went back home to read about what I had witnessed. It turns out that anyone can perform in wonderful clothes that often challenge the heteronormative idea of gender. Who is a woman? What is feminine? And who has the right to ask anyone else to dress a certain way?
Purple, one of the curators of Affections, an art event held every month at Backyard, a cafe, says that the drag show was part of Pride month's line-up, so that people in this city I call home, can be open and free, despite the several constraints of their day. 'We make an effort to ensure that our space is chill, and members of the queer community can share a laugh,' they say.
During their monthly meetings (they have held 11 to date), a make-up station is set up for an all-out glitter party. 'Those who cannot wear make-up at home because of what their parents or society have to say, can come here and dress up. It is a safe space, and I tend to volunteer to dress them up,' they say. At the end of the event, participants and visitors are often doused in a healthy amount of colour and shine.
Devam Shivam, non-binary drag artist and a Chennai resident, has performed at small events in the city and elsewhere in India. This time, he gets access to a full stage. There are also three prizes to claim, a rarity in Chennai, especially since the queer community in the city is being actively doxxed online. Last year's Pride march seemed like a fortress with hundreds of police personnel in khaki, matching half the strength of the participants. Shivam, in his excitement, has been picking outfits all week.
Pritha Bhattacharya, who is going to be in drag for the first time, has already been in conversation with Shivam regarding their look for the event. 'It was the drag queens who were an instrumental part of the Stonewall rebellion,' they say. The Stonewall rebellion, on June 28, 1969, in New York, was the beginning of a six-day period of clashes between LGBTQIA+ people and the police. It was the beginning of activism for these communities.
As for me, see you on the other side of drag, covered in glitter. Happy Pride month, you guys!
Wordsworth
Gender neutrality
Recently, the Jawaharlal Nehru University decided to replace the term 'Kulpati' for the more inclusive 'Kulguru' to refer to its Vice-Chancellor on academic documents. Pati in Hindi means husband, while guru means teacher. With people across the gender spectrum occupying positions of power, it only means that conventional usage of terms like 'sportsman' and 'chairman' are now taking on its more gender-neutral usage: 'sportsperson' and 'chairperson'.
Toolkit
The Gender and Policy Lab team along with the Greater Chennai Corporation released a Chennai-specific manual with gender inclusive guidelines for urban infrastructure design to enable women's access to public spaces on July 6. The document recognises that public spaces are experienced differently by women, girls, transgender and non-binary people, due to reasons as diverse as safety, mobility patterns, caregiving responsibilities, and social norms. In this 280-page manual, created after several surveys, discussions, and spatial audits, are design solutions for problems of our everyday life at parks, beaches, bus stops, markets, toilets and shelters for the urban homeless. While the physical copy is out, the PDF will be up on the GCC website.
Kaliyug aa gaya hai. I don't know what is happening to these young Indian women nowadays. Instead of being good wives, they often create hell for their husbands.
Excerpt from a longer post on X by former Supreme Court of India judge, Markandey Katju
Women we meet
Harris Karishma, 17, is the only woman palm tree climber in Villupuram district. In a video, which now has over 20 lakh views, Karishma puts on the harness that generations of palm tree climbers and toddy tappers have used, around her waist and feet. Within minutes, she is halfway up the trunk. Karishma can climb a tree, harvest ice apples (the fruit of the palm), tap toddy and padaneer, and aid in the process of making palm jaggery. Her assent of the tree is a form of protest, against the Tamil Nadu government that has chosen to prevent the legalisation of toddy in the State, despite the palmyra being the State tree. 'After seeing me climb the tree, other youth, particularly boys, have begun climbing. Someone needs to make videos about the palm tree,' she says.
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