Pride Month: Here are some books that celebrate queer voices

Facing the MirrorAshwini SukthankarAshwini Sukthankar writes in her hardhitting introduction ldquoFor Indian lesbians putting our words into public space has so far meant having to brutally manipulate the dimensions of who we arerdquo Sukthankar was writing in 1998 about an independent India which had failed to accept lesbian narratives The writers would have to alter the gender of their characters or plots to fit in This essential anthology Penguin Random House India allows space for these writers to lsquoface the mirrorrsquo and document stories without alteration The writings include texts scribbled on scraps of paper extracts from journals anecdotes transcribed from narrated stories love letters translated work and fictionQueering IndiaRuth VanitaScholarly essays from postcolonial writers find a place in this anthology that offers an understanding of same sex love desire and eroticism Published in 2002 by Routledge it was the earliest to do so in India Edited by Ruth Vanita it unpacks various ideas mdash from the colonial legacy that introduced terms like lsquounlawfulrsquo and lsquosinfulrsquo to interrogations through fiction and performances on stage TV and cinema For instance Geeta Patel writes about Deepa Mehtarsquos film Fire 1996 and the controversies on its release Rosemary Marangoly George analyses samesex desire in poet Kamala Dasrsquos workMy Fatherrsquos GardenHansda Sowvendra ShekharHansda Sowvendra Shekharrsquos novel Speaking Tiger Books is set in three towns in Jharkhand Written in three parts it begins with a heartbreak experienced by the young Santhali gay narrator whose lover from college prefers keeping their relationship coveted To heal from it he escapes first to Pakur then to Ghatshila While in Pakur he searches for companionship Although he finds it in the head clerk of the hospital where he works he is soon disillusioned when he finds out the truth about his new friend He ultimately returns home where he thinks about his father his life and what his love for his garden truly meansDeviantsSantanu BhattacharyaIn his second novel Penguin UK Santanu Bhattacharya explores three generations of gay men within a family mdash Vivaan Mambro and Sukumar This multigenerational narrative helps the reader trace their individual journeys as well as understand how the legal framework and social milieu visagravevis homosexuality have changed over the years in the country Each character navigates challenges of their time from colonial laws to loneliness and dating apps and yearns most of all for love and intimacyThe World that Belongs to UsAkhil Katyal and Aditi AngirasEdited by Aditi Angiras and Akhil Katyal this collection by HarperCollins India collates more than a 100 fresh voices from various communities in South Asia through queer poems The term lsquoqueerrsquo is allowed to be splintered to include poems which are thematically political as well as nonpolitical by queer as well as nonqueer poets writing as allies In addition to reading seasoned writers such as Ruth Vanita Vikram Seth Kazim Ali Minal Hajratwala readers can pore over poems by contemporary new poets writing in various South Asian languagesOn the Brink of BeliefKazim AliEdited by Kazim Ali this anthology Penguin Random House India releases this month Here queerness meets faith myth and spirit The book consists of short stories memoir poetry and flash fiction from 24 South Asian writers aged 18 to 25 years It is a culmination of the work undertaken by the writers as part of The Queer Writersrsquo Room led by the digital queer culture platform Queer Muslim Project Some of the themes in the collection include joy intergenerational grief violence and memory caste and silence rituals and beliefs among other thingsAvailable Leading bookstores and estores