Exploring Queeristan with Parmesh Shahani

This week we welcome Parmesh Shahani, founder of the Godrej India Culture Lab and author of Gay Bombay: Globalization, Love and (Be)longing in Contemporary India and Queeristan: LGBTQ Inclusion in the Indian Workplace. While Parmesh was eating his blueberry cake and drinking coffee to start his day, the sun was setting in Los Angeles. Across this conversation, we explore his journey to the United States and how his time at MIT changed his world view; the legal and political struggles over LGBTQ rights in India over the past decade or so; the work he has done with the India Culture Lab and through work within corporations; the tolerance of diverse gender and sexual identities in classical Indian mythology; the role of popular Indian media as a catalyst for change; his status as a fashion icon; and his excitement over the changes that are taking place across his country as small town India embraces queer sexuality. All of these and many other themes are addressed in his recent book as he seeks to “queer” what business books look like and the kinds of arguments they advance. His closing speech about the queer future of India is not to be missed! A full transcript of this episode will be available SOON on the episode page. Here are some of the references from this episode, for those who want to dig a little deeper: Indian student protests early 2020 Coronavirus lockdown: The Indian migrants dying to get home Gay Bombay: Globalization, Love and (Be)longing in Contemporary India Queeristan: LGBTQ Inclusion in the Indian Workplace Mentioned in Queeristan: Pierre Bourdieu Michel Foucault Jacques Derrida Shah Rukh Khan Toblerone chocolate MIT Comparative Media Studies Program (CMS) Program Administrator Chris Pomiecko Parmesh’s Between the Lines film series MIT Rainbow Lounge Convergence Culture Consortium Swades (Shah Rukh Khan film that inspired Parmesh to return to India) India’s LGBTQ+ Legal History 2009 Delhi High Court 2013 Supreme Court Verdict 2014 Verdict for transgender rights 2017 Right to Privacy 2018 Special Bench - LGBTQ decriminalization 2019 Transgender Act Godrej India Culture Lab Henry Jenkins Master Class at the Culture Lab Parmesh’s Godrej recruitment – Godrej Live Out Ur Dream (LOUD) Harvey Milk inspiration History of sexuality in India Devdutt Pattanaik – Shikhandi: And Other Tales They Don't Tell You. Same Sex Love in India Thomas Babington Macaulay Narendra Modi – Hindu Nationalism Popular media narratives of Indian parents accepting their queer children: Gazal Dhaliwal; her story on Aamir Khan’s TV show Satyamev Jayate More about the story of Kusuma that Parmesh spoke about can be found in his book, Queeristan, on pp 122-123. Films: Dostana Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdham Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga (starring Sonam Kapoor and Anil Kapoor) Lee Badget – World Bank Report – cost to business of homophobia Michel Foucault – Panoptikon GQ – Parmesh as Fashion Icon – Neon Green 2018 2019 It’s not the cover, but… story in Vogue India Current Scholarship – Queer stories through the lens of joy: Brian Horton (Brandeis, forthcoming book, Shimmers of the Fabulous) Anjali Arondekar (UC Santa Cruz) What’s exciting Parmesh in India right now… Small town youth-run events: Raipur Pride Awadh Queer Literature Festival - Lucknow XUKIA Collective - Assam Ya_All - Manipur Queer LitFest - Chennai Projects: Grace Banu - cooperative dairy for trans people Dalit Queer Project Queer Muslim Project Books: A Life in Trans Activism by A. Revathi Mohanaswamy by Vasudhendra Maya Sharma - Loving Women: Being Lesbian in Unprivileged India Government: Hiring trans people to run metro stations Share your thoughts via Twitter with Henry, Colin and the How Do You Like It So Far? account! You can also email us at [email protected]. Music: "Love is Love" by Petter Wallenberg & Rainbow Riots, featuring Sushant Divgikar “In Time” by Dylan Emmett and “Spaceship” by Lesion X. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– In Time (Instrumental) by Dylan Emmet https://soundcloud.com/dylanemmet Spaceship by Lesion X https://soundcloud.com/lesionxbeats Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/in-time-instrumental Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lesion-x-spaceship Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/AzYoVrMLa1Q –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Share your via email at [email protected].