The trans singer who lost his voice as he found himself
How Madhav started from scratch and learnt to love his new pitch
BodiesBodies
-
-
‘My pronouns are star/starself’: How queer people bend the rules of language to find euphoria
Using language that respects people’s identities is good for them. Queer people have always known this. Science agrees.
Bodies -
Everything about me remains male, yet I am also female: How Chapal Bhaduri became the queen of Bengal theatre
Excerpted from the book Chapal Rani, the Last Queen of Bengal: The Life and Times of a Female Impersonator by Sandip Roy
Bodies -
The trans euphoria of chosen names and the bureaucratic battle to claim them
Choosing a name is an experiment with meaning and perception, playing hide-and-seek with social memory—the state takes all the fun out of it
Bodies -
Coming home to my body: Finding my nonbinary self
I believed that cosplaying ‘normalcy’ by pretending to be cisgender would be the easiest way to live my life. Accepting my ‘nonbinary’ self gave me a way out of that trap.
Bodies -
For Years, I Lived In Pieces. Embracing My Queerness Made Me Whole.
Loneliness led me down the path of self-harm, which almost cost me my life. Healing began when I came to terms with my queer identity.
Bodies -
-
A trans person’s struggle for dignity doesn’t stop even when they die
An in-depth look into the deaths of two trans women–one in Kolkata and another in Goa–reveals how trans people face systemic violence in death, as they do in life
Bodies -
Kissing boys behind curtains: Growing up as the queer son of a Calcutta courtesan
Nautch Boy chronicles Manish Gaekwad’s coming of age, set against the backdrop of a kotha
Bodies -
“To be both an athlete and a darling”: How a game of women’s cricket helped me see the transness I longed for
Excerpted from 'On the Brink of Belief: Queer Writing from South Asia,' edited by Kazim Ali and published by Penguin India.
Bodies -
I thought they were ‘butch’ or ‘masc’. They made me question labels
How two women from Mumbai’s fishing and dabbawalla communities taught me that gender can’t be put in a box
Bodies -
What the scars on queer bodies tell us
Scars are often seen as symbols of pain. Can they also be markers of agency and growth?
Bodies -
Innerwear seems trivial. Until an entire community is deprived of the right ones
Makeshift solutions are uncomfortable and imports are expensive. So queer people are now building the undergarments that help them be seen.
Bodies