A PENANCE FOR POSTERITY

Activist Kalki Subramaniam talks about her book We Are Not The Others, the journey of publishing it and its poems making it to college curriculum across the country

- Kannalmozhi Kabilan

As writer Sukirtharani remarked, it didn’t come as much of a surprise when Delhi University removed the works of two Tamil writers — Sukirtharani herself and author Bama, both of whom have written much about Dalit women and their world — from its curriculum. This wasn’t the first time and it’s certainly not going to be the last. Amid such dismal conditions, transgender activist, artist, poet and actor Kalki Subramaniam announced that her book, We Are Not The Others, has made it to the curriculum of four colleges. Perhaps it was a way by which the literary world could balance the scales. Whatever the reason may be, there’s much to rejoice.

Ask Kalki and she points out that the queer literature movement has not even had a proper start yet. “It took so many years for Dalit literature to be placed in our education curriculum. With queer literature, we are still struggling with stereotypes, misrepresentation and prejudice. This is for the entire LGBTQIA+ community, including transgender people,” she begins. While this already places many a hurdle in their path, there are several others on the creative front to contend with as well. For one, writers who are voices within the community are very few. “In Tamil, there are few people who have written books from the transgender community. It’s is still in the single digit. There have to be more people — more powerful voices — coming out and documenting their lives through art and literature,” she suggests. Perhaps, her book now finding its way to even more young people would help inspire them, she hopes.

When no one around

He spoke to the ravens’

“I feel this way

I tell this to you’