The I Column

Sex Question Mark
s-o-c-i-a-l-c-u-t-FluPNkHfCTs-unsplash

Looking back, it seems strange, almost sad that he couldn’t contain his anxiety, couldn’t bear the shame of what he did wrong. He must have skimmed over so much turmoil, that he couldn’t accept the reality of harming someone.

By Megha
March 1, 2023
Sex Question Mark
Acting Like Myself
An illustration of stage-curtains in bright color.

Wesley D’Souza recounts the time his school put up a production of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, his preparations for its audition, and how the process was intertwined with an exploration and acceptance of his sexuality.

By Wesley D'Souza
January 3, 2023
Acting Like Myself
So what if I’m my own voyeur? — Connections and Disconnections with Desire(s)
Orange flames rising over a black background

Funnily enough, porn played a massive role in helping me articulate my queerness (I am pansexual) and my even queerer desires.

By Ankita Dhar Karmakar
October 17, 2022
So what if I’m my own voyeur? — Connections and Disconnections with Desire(s)
Sunflowers on a Frosty Morning
A close-up photograph of a sunflower with leaves and a blue sky in the background.

A few days ago, in a telephonic conversation with my mother, I was made aware of the inadequacies of my…

By Neel
September 19, 2022
Sunflowers on a Frosty Morning
Of Identity and Belongings: The Gatekeeping within Queer Spaces
A close-up of chainmesh fencing.
No matter how much I wanted to be a part of the rainbow, it felt like the rainbow wanted no part of me. It was an elite space for the exuberant über cool gays, with access, privilege and a vocabulary filled with jargon. I couldn’t even decide if I was ‘gay enough’, let alone deconstruct my experiences, having being brought up in a heteronormative culture.
By Shubhangi
September 1, 2022
Of Identity and Belongings: The Gatekeeping within Queer Spaces
Looking For Someone To Talk To
खुले आसमान के तले दो लोग एक दूसरे की तरफ़ अपना हाथ बढ़ाते हुए. Two hands reaching out to each other against the background of a blue sky.

I would say that growing up in a small village would make it difficult to find love or companionship, but I have since moved to a city and found that it was difficult to find love there, too. It did not stop me from trying, though.

By Wesley D'Souza
April 1, 2022
Looking For Someone To Talk To
Of filter coffee, marriage and mixed celebrations of sexuality
Of filter coffee, marriage and mixed celebrations of sexuality

Marriage also feels complicated when one approaches it through the lens of feminism. Marriage throws in two people and often their families into a system designed to perpetuate patriarchy, subjugate women, and bind men and women (in heteronormative marriage) into strict roles in the marriage.

By Vani Viswanathan
March 1, 2022
Of filter coffee, marriage and mixed celebrations of sexuality
On Looking for Love
An illustration which depicts three heart-shaped pieces of wood suspended from wires, one of them clearly in the foreground, the other two a little smaller and in the background

I wanted to be one of those people who decide to never date again and actually follow through. Indeed, I decided that a lot. A resolution that was broken so many times that it became a running joke in my head.

By Wesley D'Souza
February 1, 2022
On Looking for Love
Dear Diary: The radically feminist creative journalling practice that nobody talks about

This article was originally published here. Even the Prime Minister cannot interfere with the baby’s bedtime. I pace in a…

By Sheena D'Lima
January 3, 2022
Dear Diary: The radically feminist creative journalling practice that nobody talks about
How much support is enough?

This article was originally published here. This article not based on any studies I know of, but then I know…

By Asmi
January 3, 2022
How much support is enough?
Acting Like Myself
An illustration of stage-curtains in bright color.

In this month’s issue of Play and Sexuality, Wesley D’Souza recounts the time his school put up a production of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, his preparations for its audition, and how the process was intertwined with an exploration and acceptance of his sexuality.

By Wesley D'Souza
December 15, 2021
Acting Like Myself
It’s not ‘just’ play!
An illustration of handcuffs in dull shades.

Play is not only about cocks, balls, vaginas, paddles, or anything that happens between two consenting adults in the bedroom. It’s also about what goes on in a masochist’s mind before they submit to a cane, or a whip, and before they orgasm from the pain.

By Asmi
December 1, 2021
It’s not ‘just’ play!
For the Joy of it
An illustration of a person’s face and neck in drab shades. They seem to be in great agony: there are scars and marks on the face, and the inside of the mouth as well as the neck are sketched in a web of overlapping vertical lines.

Of course, I knew I wasn’t the only person in the world writing about Sherlock Holmes. I, however, thought I was the only one in the world writing about them like that. You know.
Romantically.

By Saswati
November 1, 2021
For the Joy of it
If you want safety, you must toil for it.

‘Take charge; build safe spaces for yourself.’ ‘Be the change you want to see.’ ‘Inclusion starts with I.’   My…

By Samarth Khanna
October 4, 2021
If you want safety, you must toil for it.
The Space to Be

Every year since I was 20, I’ve been visiting an entirely new place on my birthday as a way of…

By Apphia
September 15, 2021
The Space to Be
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