KASHISH 2020: Atanu Mukherjee’s short ‘Wig’ compels us to think about existence, struggle, individuality, gender
WIG http://mumbaiqueerfest.com/indian-masala-mix-ii/ 26 min / 2019 / Narrative Short / India Dir: Atanu Mukherjee Producer: Pooja Gupte (Humaramovie and Easel) KASHISH 2020 Virtual, the 11th edition of KASHISH Mumbai International Queer FilmFestival, South Asia's biggest LGBTQIA+ film festival will run from July 22nd - July 30th screening 157 films from 42 countries. You can register to attend the festival from anywhere in the world. Check...
Death
Oh death Is it always on time Is it not a resultant crime When dignity is denied When a system fails the time Oh soul Why do you go away I Am a patient Be patient and stay My body is young not fray Oh breath The pulse is beating quite fast It’s slowing do try and last The huff and puff I gasp The support...
Lockdown Diaries: Ankit Bhuptani’s views on self-isolation and how our actions will define a generation
50 or 100 years from today we will not be able to talk about the year 2020 without talking about this COVID-19 pandemic. I wonder, will a teen of that time be able to believe that all the commercial planes of the world were grounded? Businesspersons, film-stars, industry leaders and other powerful people who hardly had time to eat a meal peacefully,...
Lockdown Diaries: Key life skills to help you survive during the pandemic
As we can all agree, the lockdown period has presented many challenges especially when we are sat at home trying to keep safe. I have spoken to many family and friends through video-conferencing about the challenges that they are facing during the long period uncertainty with social distancing and self- isolation. I thought it would be a great idea...
Lockdown Diaries: Respecting the anxieties of a five-year-old during the prolonged lockdown period
I am keeping lockdown diaries of my five-year-old daughter Inishka Bhattacharya for research. I talk with her to understand the tensions that she is going through during the lockdown period. All the bits shared at the bottom are her words from my COVID-19 diaries. I thought it would be good to share these as it can help other parents to...
KASHISH 2021: Film Submissions open for South Asia’s biggest LGBTQI Film Festival
The twelfth edition of KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival is scheduled to be held online next year from May 20 to 30, taking into consideration the prevailing pandemic situation. The organisers have mentioned that they are still considering a two day on-ground festival if the situation improves, a decision which will be taken only in February 2021. Festival director Sridhar...
Remembering Chiku, our squirrel child
This poem's been inspired by real events and has been written to make children understand the power of compassion towards animals. It is meant to encourage them to love them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I heard the crows scream out quite loud And ran outside to see, There lay on the grass in our Mumbai backyard Tiny balls of three! It was early hours, we were barely awake But...
Lockdown Diaries: Reflections of an Oxford shut-in
Something lockdown has given us all, in perhaps more quantities than we know how to deal with, is time. And as I find myself currently living alone, with my housemates having returned to their family homes, I have had all that time to myself. I had expected this to attract some sympathy - but the more sympathy I received,...
Lockdown Diaries: The Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe remember VE day in London
The Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe (ZTFE) commemorated the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day or VE Day in London, by following the national two minute silence at 11am on 8 May. At 11.15am, the resident priest at the Zoroastrian Centre, Ervad Yazad T Bhadha commenced reciting the Stum-no kardo in front of the fire in the Setayash Gah,...
Lockdown Diaries: Showing resilience in coping with Covid during the grey years
India has 110 million elderly, projected to become 177 million by 2025. Of this West Bengal has 750,000 senior citizens and Kolkata itself records 550,000 of them. In a recent research study the Calcutta Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology (CMIG), Regional Resource and Training Centre on Ageing, conducted individual case studies to explore how senior citizens were coping during the...
