This is the draft of an article I wrote for the March 2005 issue of Trikone on Sridhar Rangayan (Most people can't seem to get the last name right!). It was written in January that year and Sridhar went on to direct another gay film 'Yours Emotionally' (after 'Gulabi Aaina'). A trailer of this new film will be shown at the upcoming GayBombay film festival. I hope to post a review (of sorts!) of YE this weekend. Until then, here's my article on Sridhar:
It is up to each one of us to make what we will of the opportunities that come our way, how we play the game. Sridhar Rangayan has given as freely of himself to friends and the LGBT communities, as he has received from them. His house has been the ‘family home’ that has witnessed festive ‘addas’ and ferocious activist meets, and many a romance bloom, and sadly, wilt. Sridhar, after all, is all about relationships—whether it’s the one he has shared with life- and business partner Saagar; the kind of work he has produced as a professional in the TV industry or the circle of friendship or alternative family to which he belongs and the two institutions created by it, ‘Bombay Dost’ and The Humsafar Trust.
He has therefore chosen the perfect subject for the next (‘Night of Flambé’) in his ‘Rainbow Stories’ series of seven queer themed films—“gay relationships”. At least some of the material will be drawn from his own relationship, which crossed the ten-year milestone. “Ten years of togetherness—for us it’s a HUGE milestone! Most gay relationships tend to fizzle out in 7.5 years. In the fifth or sixth year, one wonders whether it’s going to last until one is 60-65, whether there will be distractions, incompatibility…. Now we feel that we can’t do without each other—and we can’t even get anybody else,” he rounds off with a joke, in typical Sridhar style.
This ability to laugh at—and live with—oneself is probably what found expression in ‘Gulabi Aaina’ (‘The Pink Mirror’) or India’s first gay film on drag queens. For Sridhar, the film represented the coming together of his activist and artistic sides “to make a product that,” he says “belongs to me, my partner and my community. We made it on an impulse but the film has gathered its own momentum, becoming a movement much beyond our expectations.” A simple desire to capture the ‘adaas’ of Edwin (one of the film’s lead) translated on screen has ended up becoming a “cult film” (a label given by the media) representative of Indian drag queens in 18 countries at 45 film festivals, and brought Sridhar laurels, awards and international media exposure. Even today, two years later, festivals invite the film, people ask for copies, and the media write about it, in India and outside. “There is still activity around the film; it’s exciting!”
Back home though Sridhar has been dealing with censorship (the film has been termed “full of obscenity”), a lukewarm response from Indian LGBT groups and some censure as well from the straight-acting, English-speaking gay genus. Unwilling to recant on his artistic ‘point de vue’ for anyone, Sridhar has resisted off-the-record offers of a (Universal!) censorship certificate by palms itching to be greased, choosing instead to go in appeal against the Censor Board. And self-hating fags be damned; what counts is the “phenomenal response” to the film by those whom it gave a voice for the first time, i.e., the cross-dressing ‘koti’. “What the community as a whole makes of the film, how they use it is up to them. I was hoping that the ‘hijra’ communities will also screen it… that the film will be seen by many more people,” Sridhar says, partly disappointed with the lack of appreciation by his own.
What he also finds “rather disturbing” is that within the gay community, there is much skepticism about gay relationships. That and the fact that “they are seen as an aberration. People say ‘Why do they want make ‘chapattis’ together?’ There is the dominant-subservient, active-passive stamp that comes from the hetero pattern—even the community sees same-sex relationships within these parameters. Or suppose one of the partners does sleep outside the relationship, there is so much heat generated about it—the community seems more concerned about it than the two people involved.”
Sridhar and Saagar have found acceptance (often wholehearted but sometimes stingy) from friends and their showbiz fraternity. Both, wickedly and gratefully, Sridhar enjoys the reactions in mostly-hetero spaces to their being lovers. Them being labeled gay artists in an essentially intellectually impoverished industry is a risk Sridhar is conscious about, but the greater danger he says is the narrowing of his own vision to gay-only subjects. “I would love to continue doing other things. I would enjoy making a ‘Dr. Zhivago’—to make an Indian version of it is THE dream—as much as I enjoyed making ‘Gulabi Aaina’ We continue to do a lot of mainstream TV, including a hetero romance set on a cruise liner!” Many dream boats sail by but Sri and Saagar maintain the professional’s position on the sets. Gay jokes are common behind the scenes—the good ones being appreciated and the phobic ones politely berated.
Then of course, there is the question of family acceptance—Saagar’s family is not quite aware of their ‘domestic enterprise’. (They stay away from their folks—Sridhar’s in small-town Mandya near Bangalore; Saagar’s in Meerut.) “That’s one hurdle we are yet to cross—I am out to my family; he’s not. For Saagar’s family, we are still ‘bhai-bhai’ staying together,” Sridhar says. What is interesting is that Saagar has gone from being ‘woh ladka’ for Sridhar’s mother to someone with whom she can have long conversations.”
Mirroring Sridhar’s optimistic outlook, ‘Night of Flambe’, a 70-minute feature shot in digital format, will be “not so much about the problems of a relationship but its beauty despite the problems.” While scripting progresses on the film, Sridhar is looking at ways to cement his relationship with Saagar further: “Buying a house together would perhaps be one way of doing that. I don’t know how easy it would be for us to get a housing loan and buy a house jointly. I cannot even nominate Saagar in my insurance policy—he needs to be a blood relative. That we are business partners is the only ‘legal recognition’ we can hang on to—most couples don’t even have that. There is security in the relationship but these things give some social sanction, make us more secure.”
Security is cherished in the graying, balding years and peril prized in youth. Eleven years ago, Sridhar, a qualified engineer gave up a lucrative job for apprenticeship with Sai Paranjpye. Solaris Pictures’, the company formed by Sri and Saagar since they went indy, has produced much ‘mainstream work’; this helped finance ‘Gulabi Aaina’ and will also roll in the money for the next Rainbow story. Sridhar is determined to place a bet again with his own money while the first film is only now getting close to the breakeven line.
Sridhar would rather not speculate on what he would, if asked to pick, choose to be—artist or activist. “Hopefully, a filmmaker who can straddle both—a good acrobat.”
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
More on the Apple logo and much much more on Turing
Here are some more interesting links on Alan Turing, the Apple logo and the dubious link between the two.
http://www.turing.org.uk/turing/ This is by someone who has written a book on Turing.
http://coffeebanana.pitas.com/ The first part of the piece here gives some more info on the Apple logos.
A link to an interesting article on the ‘connection’ with even more links (which I am yet to explore).
Thanks for Sanjay, a blogger himself. (see http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=Asad11).
And here’s a response from ‘Paul’ whose comment eloquently sums up what my previous post tried to convey:
“Hi
I live in UK and know nothing about Apple but I did see Breaking the Code the BBC play about Alan Turing which was repeated on BBC4 only weeks ago and it stood up brilliantly. So much more satisfying then much Hollywood gay sentimental mush. It was a very British play and caught the period (the war and post-War period) brilliantly. The cast superb, Derek Jacobi as Alan Turing talked about his work to his new boss at Bletchley Park (where the German Engima Machine was kept and the code eventually cracked by him) which should have had everyone turning off their sets for it was way over everyone's head - but it was spellbinding. The play followed very much the Wikipedia piece although 'Joan' suggested marriage to him not the other way around and he turned her down but a close friendship between the two was maintained.
The film indicated that his death was suicide from cyanide and a half eaten apple was shown on his bedside table.
It is ironic that a man who shortened the War, who saved many Allied lives by cracking the Enigma code, should be shat on by Britain, become a criminal for his homosexuality and be fed female hormones to 'cure' him. The play indicated that he was being 'watched' by the security services as they thought he had become a security risk.”
http://www.turing.org.uk/turing/ This is by someone who has written a book on Turing.
http://coffeebanana.pitas.com/ The first part of the piece here gives some more info on the Apple logos.
A link to an interesting article on the ‘connection’ with even more links (which I am yet to explore).
Thanks for Sanjay, a blogger himself. (see http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=Asad11).
And here’s a response from ‘Paul’ whose comment eloquently sums up what my previous post tried to convey:
“Hi
I live in UK and know nothing about Apple but I did see Breaking the Code the BBC play about Alan Turing which was repeated on BBC4 only weeks ago and it stood up brilliantly. So much more satisfying then much Hollywood gay sentimental mush. It was a very British play and caught the period (the war and post-War period) brilliantly. The cast superb, Derek Jacobi as Alan Turing talked about his work to his new boss at Bletchley Park (where the German Engima Machine was kept and the code eventually cracked by him) which should have had everyone turning off their sets for it was way over everyone's head - but it was spellbinding. The play followed very much the Wikipedia piece although 'Joan' suggested marriage to him not the other way around and he turned her down but a close friendship between the two was maintained.
The film indicated that his death was suicide from cyanide and a half eaten apple was shown on his bedside table.
It is ironic that a man who shortened the War, who saved many Allied lives by cracking the Enigma code, should be shat on by Britain, become a criminal for his homosexuality and be fed female hormones to 'cure' him. The play indicated that he was being 'watched' by the security services as they thought he had become a security risk.”
Monday, January 23, 2006
Legend of the ‘Apple’ and the genius who inspired it
There aren't many Mac users in Mumbai and the previous Apple logo (it became single-coloured in 1998) is not a common sight (I don’t remember seeing any ad for the brand). Coming from a publishing background and being just slightly tech savvy, I am familiar with the ‘rainbow colored half-eaten’ fruit. So I am surprised I never wondered about the rainbow band.
When Vibs mentioned to me recently about the belief that it was meant to be a homage to Alan Turing, the genius mathematician, it was news to me. I tried to look up Apple Computer’s site to verify this but didn’t find the official history of the logo though. (If anyone has found it, please let me know.) According to Wikipedia (is it still considered reliable?), the story is just an urban legend.
But the Apple Computer page on the web encyclopedia led me to its page on Alan Turing. (I am sure there’s a term for this kind of ‘serendipity’). Turing had been discussed a long time ago by someone on an Indian gay Yahoo! groups but I am not sure what was said then. So it’s only now that the circumstances leading to his death and his tragic end have made an impact on me. Turing was barely 42 when he died. A genius snatched by virulent ignorance and hatred. Another life snuffed out for being homosexual.
PS. For those who missed my posts, I am sorry for being away. Work and family come before blogging. But I have missed being here too!
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Negative Matching, Positive Mating
This is truly absurd. And the media is even promoting this absurdity as the “need of the hour” – instead of making people aware of their folly.
The immediate provocation for this post is of course a front-page report in the Bombay Times of 25 September 2005 that says more and more couples want to get each other tested for HIV before marriage just the way it’s a practice to match horoscopes. Whether it’s a trend is questionable – the last time I was closely involved in match-making was more than 5 years ago when my cousin was eager for a bride. And I do not yet expect someone about to be engaged to talk about how their HIV tests are negative/positive and the marriage proposal is at the next state of negotiation/finalized. Especially at a time when HIV is still the ‘disease’ that dare not speak its name. (This week’s report in The Indian Express Mumbai Newsline on the inhuman treatment – pardon the pun – of HIV positive patients is enough proof if any were needed. If medical personnel can be so bigoted, why fault the lay person?).
Coming back to the issue of pre-marital testing, it’s no wonder that this ‘trend’ started in rural India – this is not an ideal world so perhaps in the real world information gets infected by the time it is transmitted from scientific journals to the Indian villager. I remember reading media reports on at least two villages – one in Punjab and the other in Maharashtra (scroll down each page to read the respective story ) – that proposed making HIV testing compulsory. (Even Goa, had this idea before better sense prevailed – and kudos to the Times journo for this report.) A crazy idea doesn’t take time to take root in a climate of fear and ignorance, a climate where even talking about safer sex is shameful. (Of course, there’s the other extreme of Pune’s Osho Ashram – or whatever the official name for this ghetto now – where this business of HIV testing really started, but then we know why they have such a strong fear.) So don’t ask me what these guys were smoking when they came up with the idea.
Ask what some of today’s journos and lawyers smoke though. Instead of pointing out the ludicrousness, the media publicizes the ‘trend’ and helps society give it sanction. The Bombay Times feature even espouses the idea (“the situation in the urban areas has improved with many couples willing to go through the test”). Then there’s this gem of a quote attributed to an advocate (as in lawyer) from a organization that calls itself the Maharashtra Law Graduate Association. (The MLGA has even filed a public interest litigation asking for pre-marital HIV testing to be made compulsory!) The report reads: “a considerable number of women have contracted the virus post marriage. “It may happen the other way round too where a man contracts the virus after marriage. However, most cases that we’ve come across are where women become victims of this.” Need one spell out why the idea is daft and self-defeating?
Has anyone heard of the window period? That’s the three-week to three-month period when the virus does not show up in a HIV test even though you are carrying it. What if A who is infected marries B in the window period, and even makes B pregnant during this time? And what if A gets infected after marriage whether through sex outside marriage or any of the other modes of transmission? Ok, forget HIV, what if A has Hepatitis B which transmits even more easily than HIV and can be fatal as well? While we are testing, we might as well test for STIs. And tuberculosis as well, which most of us carry anyway. The Sindhis, Kutchis, etc. test for thalasasemia. Heck, let’s test the genes of all brides and grooms as well and evaluate whether our babies will be super-babies with the right genetic mix. At the end of all the tests, we can double-check against the horsoscopes to see that a disease-free future’s guaranteed for the couple.
As Osho would have said – he should have if he didn’t – life holds no guarantee. Not even the guarantee that your spouse will remain faithful and honest to you – of course, that brings in a lot of awkwardness and unpleasant questions about marital relationships. So let’s just say that the only certainty in life is death.
But there are still some prospective couples (and this applies to positive gay men as well) who want to ensure conjugal bliss even if HIV is their soul mate. (I am not saying the virus is a death certificate but at least a reality check is in order.) So witness the matrimonials in some pockets of this country (which The Indian Express gushed about on its pages a few months ago), of HIV positive spouses seeking mates similarly qualified. IE should have also warned them about possible superinfection and its yet unknown outcome. In our example, this happens when A who is already infected with HIV, gets infected with one of the many other strains of HIV. This kind of superinfection is old news, by the way. If you are US-based and you do have a superinfection, you can now consider enrolling in a study being planned to understand its effects. So far, it seems there is even a “window of susceptibility” to a superinfection.
So you see, if you are starting out on the road to a ‘happy married life’, an HIV test is not the answer. If you are insist on an answer, all I can simply say is: trust in your spouse and leave the rest to God/Higher Power/Destiny.
The immediate provocation for this post is of course a front-page report in the Bombay Times of 25 September 2005 that says more and more couples want to get each other tested for HIV before marriage just the way it’s a practice to match horoscopes. Whether it’s a trend is questionable – the last time I was closely involved in match-making was more than 5 years ago when my cousin was eager for a bride. And I do not yet expect someone about to be engaged to talk about how their HIV tests are negative/positive and the marriage proposal is at the next state of negotiation/finalized. Especially at a time when HIV is still the ‘disease’ that dare not speak its name. (This week’s report in The Indian Express Mumbai Newsline on the inhuman treatment – pardon the pun – of HIV positive patients is enough proof if any were needed. If medical personnel can be so bigoted, why fault the lay person?).
Coming back to the issue of pre-marital testing, it’s no wonder that this ‘trend’ started in rural India – this is not an ideal world so perhaps in the real world information gets infected by the time it is transmitted from scientific journals to the Indian villager. I remember reading media reports on at least two villages – one in Punjab and the other in Maharashtra (scroll down each page to read the respective story ) – that proposed making HIV testing compulsory. (Even Goa, had this idea before better sense prevailed – and kudos to the Times journo for this report.) A crazy idea doesn’t take time to take root in a climate of fear and ignorance, a climate where even talking about safer sex is shameful. (Of course, there’s the other extreme of Pune’s Osho Ashram – or whatever the official name for this ghetto now – where this business of HIV testing really started, but then we know why they have such a strong fear.) So don’t ask me what these guys were smoking when they came up with the idea.
Ask what some of today’s journos and lawyers smoke though. Instead of pointing out the ludicrousness, the media publicizes the ‘trend’ and helps society give it sanction. The Bombay Times feature even espouses the idea (“the situation in the urban areas has improved with many couples willing to go through the test”). Then there’s this gem of a quote attributed to an advocate (as in lawyer) from a organization that calls itself the Maharashtra Law Graduate Association. (The MLGA has even filed a public interest litigation asking for pre-marital HIV testing to be made compulsory!) The report reads: “a considerable number of women have contracted the virus post marriage. “It may happen the other way round too where a man contracts the virus after marriage. However, most cases that we’ve come across are where women become victims of this.” Need one spell out why the idea is daft and self-defeating?
Has anyone heard of the window period? That’s the three-week to three-month period when the virus does not show up in a HIV test even though you are carrying it. What if A who is infected marries B in the window period, and even makes B pregnant during this time? And what if A gets infected after marriage whether through sex outside marriage or any of the other modes of transmission? Ok, forget HIV, what if A has Hepatitis B which transmits even more easily than HIV and can be fatal as well? While we are testing, we might as well test for STIs. And tuberculosis as well, which most of us carry anyway. The Sindhis, Kutchis, etc. test for thalasasemia. Heck, let’s test the genes of all brides and grooms as well and evaluate whether our babies will be super-babies with the right genetic mix. At the end of all the tests, we can double-check against the horsoscopes to see that a disease-free future’s guaranteed for the couple.
As Osho would have said – he should have if he didn’t – life holds no guarantee. Not even the guarantee that your spouse will remain faithful and honest to you – of course, that brings in a lot of awkwardness and unpleasant questions about marital relationships. So let’s just say that the only certainty in life is death.
But there are still some prospective couples (and this applies to positive gay men as well) who want to ensure conjugal bliss even if HIV is their soul mate. (I am not saying the virus is a death certificate but at least a reality check is in order.) So witness the matrimonials in some pockets of this country (which The Indian Express gushed about on its pages a few months ago), of HIV positive spouses seeking mates similarly qualified. IE should have also warned them about possible superinfection and its yet unknown outcome. In our example, this happens when A who is already infected with HIV, gets infected with one of the many other strains of HIV. This kind of superinfection is old news, by the way. If you are US-based and you do have a superinfection, you can now consider enrolling in a study being planned to understand its effects. So far, it seems there is even a “window of susceptibility” to a superinfection.
So you see, if you are starting out on the road to a ‘happy married life’, an HIV test is not the answer. If you are insist on an answer, all I can simply say is: trust in your spouse and leave the rest to God/Higher Power/Destiny.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
I have no words for this kind of torture
PageoneQ reports on the ugliness that's happening in Iran. Question: What can we in India do to help the queer communities in Iran? Write to the Iranian embassy/consulate and India's ministry of external affairs at the very least?
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