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| Pramada Menon. Picture from internet |
The film is tastefully made, in the beautiful Delhi
landscape, portraying monuments, juxtaposed with the voices of women speaking about
themselves and their experiences, being lesbian, in Delhi.
As capital of India both politically and for reasons of
being one of the worst states, kissing partners with Haryana and UP, famous for
daily rapes, honour killings, lack of respect for women, using and feeling that
women are commodities to be used for sexual gratification and child bearing,
all five women, who spoke in the documentary film, chose to come to stay in Delhi,
for whatever reasons. In that light, it becomes increasingly, important, that they,
and perhaps a lot more women, who identify to be “the other”, are able to
negotiate their space to be here and live their lives, in the way they want to.
But wait a moment! Where are the women of the past, women,
who stoically stood their ground to establish to themselves, that they too were
‘the other’?
The LGBTQ movement in Delhi or for that matter, India, did
not start only 5 – 7 years ago. While it existed in whatever form, prior to
1980, when the first International Women’s Meet happened in Bombay, the
exposure to women who identified as lesbian and were sharing their lives with
many gathered during that meet, gave an enormous push to our own movement in
India. In 1996, aided by Stree Sangam,
a ‘women who love women’ group in Bombay, the first national three day, meet
happened in Bombay which brought women from different parts of India together.
It became apparent that there existed small groups of women activists, across
India, who were trying to put voice to women desire to be who they were, identified,
women who love women.
Shortly after that, an idea that had been mulling in the
minds of women in Delhi, to bring out an anthology of lesbian writings, was
published. The book, “Facing the mirror”,
edited by Ashwini Sukhthankar, was published by Penguin, in India, and became an
instant sell out.
The movement had found a voice!
Since then, there have been so many other forms of Voice,
including the Pride March. So in that light, this film, by Pramada Menon, is an
important contribution to the LGBTQ Movement in India.
Yet, I must end on a note of disappointment; in the film, the
voices from the past are absent. Not a single woman in the film is over 50
years of age, and that means, that from 1980 to 2013, visibility of women who
loved women, is still pretty poor. Perhaps, the very reason why, the film-maker chose a landscape of Delhi's Monuments, red walls, silent as tombs. The silence of the past, the women, whose blood ran with the urgency to be recognised, is deafening!
Indeed, one among the five women said so herself – Looking for a
woman who loves women, is still as hard. Therefore, what is it that is keeping
us away from coming out. Is it, our own fears, or is it that we fear the society
we live in? Or is it just that we are still negotiation, who we really are?
Only time will tell. Especially now that we know, that
gender identities are as fluid as water, running under your feet. The real
challenge is to find our own voice, loud and clear, at least for the time being.
Kal, kaun dekha - who has seen tomorrow, and what it will
hold for me? Who I will be; what will be
my identity, my voice, who knows?
Pramada Menon is
a founder member of Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action (CREA) in
2000. CREA (www.creaworld.org ) is
currently based in New Delhi and aims to enhance the “capacities of a new
generation of women leaders using a human rights approach. The organization
works on issues of sexuality, reproductive health, violence against women,
gender equity, economic justice and women's rights.”
Pramada began her career working with DASTKAR, a society for
the promotion of crafts and craftspeople in New Delhi. Starting as a field
assistant in 1987, she became the Executive Director of the organization in
1993. In the lead up to the 1995 Beijing Women’s Conference, she was actively
involved with women’s groups on the issues of sustainable livelihoods. She left
DASTKAR in 1998 and spent two years as an independent consultant working on
issues of women’s rights--sexuality, literacy, empowerment and livelihoods.
Throughout her career, Pramada has spent much of her time
conducting trainings with both men and women on issues related to gender,
leadership and empowerment. She is a strong believer in the idea that young
people need the opportunity and space to challenge themselves and to be
challenged.(Courtsey: http://www.princeton.edu/gpn/profiles/menon/
) “And you thought you knew me”, is her debut film.
Sneak preview of the
film on FB: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151890865204468&set=vb.504095503008495&type=2&theater …
NB:Views expressed here are Julia Dutta's alone
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