The I Column
The Girl Who Dreamt an Impossible Dream
The dream soon turned into an obsession, fuelled by my kind and supportive father who would’ve done the same for me no matter what I had decided to obsess over. Before I knew it, my whole life revolved around cricket. I had a room full of posters of men who played cricket, and a brain full of cricket facts and trivia. The posters covered every inch of my room. I remember picking up new ones every other week from the street-side sellers of Connaught Place in Delhi, and found one with every new issue of The Hindu’s sports magazine called Sports Star.
By Surbhi Dewan
November 3, 2016
The Gifts of Time
Even negotiations related to the use of contraception or types of sexual acts in consensual relationships become difficult for a young girl because of her fear of displeasing her partner. But if one is fortunate, time helps us acquire some sets of skills and the language to speak up against violence and enforce decisions surrounding one’s sexual and social life.
By Ramya Anand
November 1, 2017
August 17, 2026
The Confidence of a Married Woman
I envy confident women. It could be the way a woman speaks her mind, the way she dresses, or just…
By Surbhi Dewan
February 1, 2016
The Absence of a Queer ‘Mother Tongue’
Many queer Indians who converse largely in their respective regional languages find it difficult to put a name to their queer identity in their ‘mother tongue’.
By Anonymous
May 1, 2018
Talking about Gender and Sexuality as a Feminist Mother: It Only Gets More Complicated
“Mamma, look, that’s a boy giraffe, I can see his penis,” exclaims my four-year-old daughter in delight at her discovery…
By Shilpa Phadke
TALKING ABOUT GENDER AND SEXUALITY AS A FEMINIST MOTHER: IT ONLY GETS MORE COMPLICATED
“Mamma, look, that’s a boy giraffe, I can see his penis,” exclaims my four-year-old daughter in delight at her discovery…
By Shilpa Phadke
Sunflowers on a Frosty Morning
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
Striving to get information about my body
As a 17 year old who grew up in a relatively liberal Indian household, I should probably be proud of…
By Zoya Achanta
August 16, 2017
Steering Through Singlehood
I am 27 now and marriage is the most brought-up topic of conversation by my parents and relatives. Now, choosing or wanting to stay single is inversely proportional to my reputation, respect, and worthiness.
By Nidhi Chaudhary
February 1, 2021
Some Part of them Stays with You
For them there is always a smile, and for them time has stood through. Memories are edged in the season of those years in which I met them.
By Pavel Sagolsem
February 15, 2019
So what if I’m my own voyeur? — Connections and Disconnections with Desire(s)
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
So what if I’m my own voyeur? — Connections and Disconnections with Desire(s)
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
Silencing love: Negotiating Sexuality In School Life
My experience of school, as I remember it, was quite conflicted. As a child I lacked the vocabulary to describe…
By Meghna Bohidar
June 1, 2015
Sexuality in an Uncelebrated Body
Sexuality and its relationship with the self have always been confusing for me
By Gurveen Khanuja
May 18, 2026