Main toh ghoom ghoom k kantal gaya

Nineteenth November, yaani, yesterday only... was a very special day. It was International Men’s Day and also world toilet day. I am a man with a spine and a funny bone; I toh laugh at such jokes, while some find it too demeaning a comparison.Unintentionally though, the SheThePeople.tv people had their ‘Digital Women Awards’ the same day. (I was telling myself... Imagine, the hell that would break loose if someone celebrated a men’s awards thing on March 8, International Women’s Day. It would trend in Twitter the whole day, nakki). My friend — jhakkaas author and courageously out as a heterosexual cis-gendered female — Kiran Manral invited me to this event at ITC Parel. This was at 5 in the shaam.

Before that, the Akhil Bharatiya Queer Samaaj, (ABQS) had a very important day-long event in Juhu. (On a serious note there is nothing like ABQS. CHILL MAADI. Similar sounding movements, we are not stealing your macho thunder). This is an event organised by Humsafar Trust. In its second year, the event is to encourage the young to write about queer issues. 

I was part of a panel discussion here. On ‘Diversity and the media Worksapace: Do we need LGBTQ persons in the media for fair, inclusive and diverse representation’. Well, my point is that we definitely need LGBTIQ aware persons, but it is incorrect to assume that only LGBTIQ persons are sensitive to LGBTIQ challenges. I have had amazing sensitivity shown by people from self-confessed heterosexuals. And I have also had some real bad insesitive remarks made by fellow LGBTIQ persons. We cant generalise, though. If we get the right queer brains working in media, it would be a real boost — so thumbs up for a queer patrkaar.

Uske pehle the rehearsals of the LGBTIQ flashmob had begun. This is one of the best events of the Mumbai pride. Besides dances for a cause, it is also a moment where we are literally in gay abandon in the streets of Mumbai.

It is a feeling of the all accepting Mumbai spirit. It is also a community building exercise where people interact with each other and become very family-like. Before this, I was in Gender Lab, Dahisar, where I was speaking on Child Sexual Abuse, as Novermber 19 also happens to be International Day for Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse, and I am a survivor.

So, subah se raat, Navi Mumbai to Dahisar to Santacruz to Juhu to Parel to Navi Mumbai. Main toh Bombay darshan kar kar ke thak gayiii re bhaisaab.... But, bole toh, I need to celebrate the fact that there is so much happenning in aamchi Mumbai on any given day. We truly rock. In between all this, I received a call from some camera wali behen from some media house for a byte, who thought I was rude when I said I can’t. I just responded “Behen, thanda le, jaane de... Hawaa aane de!”

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