By Rupam Chakraborty
When there is a nationwide hype on the LGBTQ+ community rights, in North East’s tiny state Tripura, a group of youth have done something that many of their peers not even braved to. The LGBTQ+ community in Tripura face fierce social stigma—owing to which many people belonging to that particular community sometimes fail to express themselves.
Only recently a group of local youth artists uploaded a music video on Youtube that portrays the struggles faced by a young person dealing with his sexual orientation in Agartala. This is a pioneering work in this field as not many local contemporary artistic works exist that explore this area.
Here is an Excerpts of a candid talk with lead actress of the video (Rai Kotha).
You can start by telling me in your own words what inspired you to make this video, who were involved and so on ?
-I have been working on Feminist and Human rights issues for a long time now. My partner Sannidhya and I have done projects on such sensitive ventures in the past. Arnav Chakraborty, who happens to be of a similar thought process, approached us with this work. We both agreed to work on it. Durlav and Arnav collaborated on the conception of this project and Joe joined as a cast member. The story is so beautiful, as you might have followed, we were totally invested in it. And the shooting happened in the same paced note.
Do any of the people involved in this project belong to the LGBTQ+ community if I may ask?
-That is their personal call. Nobody’s sexuality is my cup of tea right. We all rationally discuss the issues pertaining to the LGBTQ+ community. Sexual orientation, to each, is his personal call. Also, I don’t think it’ll be rational for me to give an answer on anyone’s behalf. But yes, we extend our support to the community and try to tackle heteronormativity with panache.
Can you tell me what are the biggest issues faced by the LGBTQ+ community here?
-Lack of exposure, absence of a community union, absence of awareness, lack of acknowledgement, heteronormativity.
Are they any different from the issues they face elsewhere in India? Say a metro city like Bangalore/Mumbai compared to Agartala?
-Yeah definitely. People in metros are at least more aware about the community. Receiving flak is a matter of a different debate. But the acknowledgement of existence is of quintessential importance. Here, people aren’t even ready to acknowledge that such a community of people exists. This is sad. This needs to change.
How do you think this can be changed?
-I think people should be made aware with sensitivity. That’s all. The media has to take responsibility for that. This will also help in eradicating discrimination.
Art has always been a medium to express the voice of the marginalized against social taboos. Being queer is still considered as a taboo among the majority of India’s population. This situation is especially worse in the hinterland and smaller cities like Agartala. So it is very admirable that the youth of our society are voicing their opinions against pre-existing social biases using art. Young people are empowered with social media platforms to spread their ideas that the mainstream media may yet be cautious to explore. That is why this video is such a beautiful example of the youth showing a part of our society that many live in denial about. (Courtesy: Tripura Times)
Rupam Chakraborty may be contacted at : rupamchakraborty9920@gmail.com
