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Desire

Interview – Rumi Harish
A photo of Rumi Harish
Interview – Rumi Harish

My assertion of my gender was not because of masculinity, it was because of the feminism which I practised – and that gave me this chance to come back to what I was. To assert what I was and to assert what I am.
By Shikha Aleya
May 19, 2025
Interview – Rumi Harish
Interview – Raj Mariwala
A photograph of MHI director Raj Mariwala; she is playing with a grey-brown dog, squatting in grass.
Interview – Raj Mariwala

Self-care is influenced by the environment we inhabit, the way we relate to others, the way we negotiate with other living beings or structures. Self-care is also interlinked with other types of care – whether that is in community resources, psychosocial support, engagement with medical and health care institutions, and of course in collective agency and solidarity.
By Shikha Aleya
July 5, 2021
Interview – Raj Mariwala
Interview – Raj Mariwala
A photograph of MHI director Raj Mariwala; she is playing with a grey-brown dog, squatting in grass.
Interview – Raj Mariwala

Self-care is influenced by the environment we inhabit, the way we relate to others, the way we negotiate with other living beings or structures. Self-care is also interlinked with other types of care – whether that is in community resources, psychosocial support, engagement with medical and health care institutions, and of course in collective agency and solidarity.
By Shikha Aleya
January 3, 2023
Interview – Raj Mariwala
Interview – Raghavi S
Photograph of Raghavi S
Interview – Raghavi S

Language is one of the most intimate things we share with one another, more than bodies, more than time.

By Shikha Aleya
July 16, 2025
Interview – Raghavi S
Interview – Manak Matiyani
Photo of a smiling man who is wearing a blue patterned shirt and standing in front of a brick wall
Interview – Manak Matiyani

As we grow older, moral codes, conventions of appropriateness and shame, and the utilitarian and income-focused education we get make us lose that stability. The idea of play to me is about bringing back that ability and comfort into the lives of people so that they can actually play.

By Shikha Aleya
December 1, 2021
Interview – Manak Matiyani
Interview – Jyotsna Siddharth
A photo of Jyotsna Sidhharth smiling and looking directly at the camera.
Interview – Jyotsna Siddharth

Our bodies are the vessels through which we feel, emote, work or navigate our societies and the world at large. Our bodies are the real, live archive of everything we have experienced and they have borne the consequences of our social conditioning and decisions.
By Shikha Aleya
June 16, 2023
Interview – Jyotsna Siddharth
Interview – Coupledom is a mix of meanings
A photograph of colourful weaves of threads.
Interview – Coupledom is a mix of meanings

Coupledom may or may not be for everyone, and does not mean the same thing to everyone. Importantly, coupledom does not hold the same value or position in our lives, even in the lives of the individuals perceived to be parts of a couple structure.
By Shikha Aleya
February 15, 2022
Interview – Coupledom is a mix of meanings
Interview – Abha Khetarpal
Interview – Abha Khetarpal

Abha Khetarpal is a disability rights activist and self-advocate, writer, motivational speaker, and President of Cross the Hurdles, a resource…
By Shikha Aleya
May 1, 2020
Interview – Abha Khetarpal
Interview – We Have Questions!
Woman Standing Beside Woman on White Wooden Chair Facing Body of Water
Interview – We Have Questions!

There are times when we bend the rules and draw on the walls. This is one of those times. We listened in on some of the chatter online on the subject of consent and we ended up with some questions.
By Shikha Aleya
March 17, 2025
Interview – We Have Questions!
Interview – This is what you bring to the table!
A photograph of a number of multicoloured rainbows against the background of a blue sky.
Interview – This is what you bring to the table!

In this write up, we’d like to share a sense of what emerges from a compilation of these responses. This is based on the thoughts and feelings that come through for those of us here at In Plainspeak who have had the joy of reading the original responses as they came in to us. (Some of the quotations that follow have been slightly edited for flow and to help connect themes.) We know that most things in the realm of art, information and ideas lend themselves to a wide range of inferences and insights depending on the individuals making the inferences.
By Shikha Aleya
March 1, 2022
Interview – This is what you bring to the table!
Interview – Prakash
Photo of a young smiling man taken from an upper angle. He has side-swept black hair and a bear. He is wearing a white shirt, black leather jacket and square spectacles.
Interview – Prakash

“I feel that connection is the survival language of the LGBTQIA+ community. The sense of a common struggle makes way for developing quick yet lasting connections among the community…”
By Shikha Aleya
November 15, 2022
Interview – Prakash
In Search of Ochin Pakhi
Two baul singers sitting on the ground of an open space and performing
In Search of Ochin Pakhi

The aim of this piece is to bring to light the inherent queerness marking Baul folk music in Bengali, an oral undocumented spiritual expression that transcends heterosexual impositions and classism.
By Taniya Basu
June 17, 2025
In Search of Ochin Pakhi
In Appreciation of Singlehood
A photograph of a woman facing a water body lined with blades of grass. The sky is tinged with orange and blue.
In Appreciation of Singlehood

Growing up, for me, has been about accepting that the loneliness and sadness woven into the fabric of my being do not go away with entering conventional arrangements like monogamous relationships or marriage.
By Siddhi Pandey
February 1, 2021
In Appreciation of Singlehood
If Mountains Can Move …
A scenic photograph of a river flowing down the valley with hills at the background
If Mountains Can Move …

Language itself is being plugged as a resource, to be shared with those who share similar politics, or if not, at least to move them along in that direction. And people who speak, think, love and live differently are targeted as “the other”.
By Nandini Rao
June 17, 2025
If Mountains Can Move …
I never liked your beanie
A light-grey surface with faded and yellowed postcards and papers, A small pile of papers and books is tied with string. There is a black fountain pen and an ink bottle is out of focus in one corner.
I never liked your beanie

I only ever read your letters
to learn what patterns to avoid
in future relationships.
By Hritvika Lakhera
May 4, 2023
I never liked your beanie
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