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Sexuality

Sunflowers on a Frosty Morning
A close-up photograph of a sunflower with leaves and a blue sky in the background.
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
Sunflowers on a Frosty Morning
Two Poems: ‘A room of one’s own’ & ‘Sunshine’
Photograph of the roots of a tree
Two Poems: ‘A room of one’s own’ & ‘Sunshine’

A room of one’s own You couldn’t begin to say the self Before someone helps you finish — Self-centred Self-serving…
By Carol D'Souza
September 19, 2022
Two Poems: ‘A room of one’s own’ & ‘Sunshine’
This is how we do it
An abstract illustration of multi-coloured swirling patterns
This is how we do it

We need to recognise that mental health stressors that queer people face are not because something is inherently wrong with them.
By Shruti Chakravarty
September 1, 2022
This is how we do it
Interview – Deepa Pawar
Training with nomadic tribe women & youth
Interview – Deepa Pawar

Deepa Pawar is the Managing Trustee & Founder Director of Anubhuti Trust, and is well-known for her work with NT-DNT…
By Shikha Aleya
September 1, 2022
Interview – Deepa Pawar
Obedience, the Greater Good and Self-Exploration
On a peach background is the illustration of a girl who is reaching out backwards towards a heart-shaped mirror with one hand. The other hand rests elegantly on her shoulder. Beside her are flowers in different colors, seemingly growing from the ground.
Obedience, the Greater Good and Self-Exploration

I distinctly remember an adult male member of my extended family saying, “Cover up your chest with a dupatta. You…
By Taniya Mondal
September 1, 2022
Obedience, the Greater Good and Self-Exploration
Nightmares of Being Chased by an Angry Mob
An abstract illustration of swirling patterns and splotches of mustard yellow, black, pale blue, deep orange and pale crimson. The patterns look like galaxies.
Nightmares of Being Chased by an Angry Mob

My foray of offering support in both the fields of sexual wellness and mental health was unplanned to say the…
By Pooja Priyamvada
September 1, 2022
Nightmares of Being Chased by an Angry Mob
Queer mental health and therapy
Rows of Pantone swatches hanging from the ceiling.
Queer mental health and therapy

In 2019, I was diagnosed with a chronic mental illness. “What is recovery and how do I find it?” was…
By Anuckriti Garg
September 1, 2022
Queer mental health and therapy
Of Identity and Belongings: The Gatekeeping within Queer Spaces
A close-up of chainmesh fencing.
Of Identity and Belongings: The Gatekeeping within Queer Spaces

I went to a girls’ high school and for somebody who had spent the last ten years in a co-ed…
By Shubhangi
September 1, 2022
Of Identity and Belongings: The Gatekeeping within Queer Spaces
Editorial – Movement and Sexuality
An abstract photo of blurred blue and white vertical lines that are spanning outwards
Editorial – Movement and Sexuality

This issue of In Plainspeak while inviting us to embrace the joys and pleasure in movement, also questions the ways in which movements are facilitated or obstructed, visibilised or invisibilised, and the spaces that we must envision to find freedom in/to movement.
By TARSHI
May 19, 2022
Editorial – Movement and Sexuality
Issue in Focus
An abstract image of waves.
Issue in Focus

Expanding contexts give the word ‘movement’ different meanings and value. Physical, conceptual, technological, relationship, emotional, mental, power, knowledge, ability, access, may be amongst the contexts immediately identified.

By Shikha Aleya
May 3, 2022
Issue in Focus
Interview – Tishani Doshi
Photograph of a woman with long hair in red sari, sitting with a brown dog against a background of bushes with vines and pink azaleas. The woman is resting her chin on one hand and petting the dog with the other.
Interview – Tishani Doshi

I’ve essentially thought of movement as a kind of freedom, but one that has the capacity to destabilise you in some way. My most creative moments are when I’m not moving, when I am in fact rooted and still.

By Shikha Aleya
May 3, 2022
Interview – Tishani Doshi
High Heels and Loose-fitting Clothes: Movement Unfettered
A rack of clothes from where T-shirts of different colours are hanging in a row.
High Heels and Loose-fitting Clothes: Movement Unfettered

As I reached puberty, well-meaning family members said that I should start being more ladylike; I believe that this is…
By Taniya Mondal
May 3, 2022
High Heels and Loose-fitting Clothes: Movement Unfettered
Masculinity, queer representation, and the motifs of movement in ‘Dedh Ishqiya’
A shot from the film featuring the two female leads, one is preparing a paan with the other’s face resting on her shoulder. Both the women are smiling.
Masculinity, queer representation, and the motifs of movement in ‘Dedh Ishqiya’

The film has all the makings and trimmings of a commercial thriller – a dynamic story, song and dance, an action-packed climax – and at the same time, it is a cinephile’s film.
By Srishti Gupta
May 3, 2022
Masculinity, queer representation, and the motifs of movement in ‘Dedh Ishqiya’
Two Poems: ‘Only sometimes’ & ‘No filter’
Photo of a trees in a forest. There is little distance between the trees. At the centre is a singular tree with twisting and gnarly branches.
Two Poems: ‘Only sometimes’ & ‘No filter’

Only sometimes   Sometimes my love is as expansive as the earth itself Patient None of the restlessness of a…
By Carol D'Souza
May 3, 2022
Two Poems: ‘Only sometimes’ & ‘No filter’
Two Poems: ‘Stepwells’ & ‘In the Dimly Lit Room’
Held between a thumb and the index finger is the delineation of a golden-yellow leaf with sunlight shining on it.
Two Poems: ‘Stepwells’ & ‘In the Dimly Lit Room’

Just like on a misty morning,
we both
sit
without a shred of adornment
on these ancient stepwells
and the call of the hummingbirds
offer us sensations,
imagination,
and our innocence
By Prithvijeet Sinha
May 3, 2022
Two Poems: ‘Stepwells’ & ‘In the Dimly Lit Room’
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