Over Rainbow

RD speaks to queer-rights activist Pawan Dhall, one of the most prominent names at the head of the rainbow wave in India since the 1990s

- Priya Pathiyan

WHEN PAWAN DHALL first discovered Shakuntala Devi's pathbreaking book The World of Homosexuals in his home library, it "opened up a new world to me," he says.

Written in 1977, the book was based on research and interviews and Devi's own experience of being married to a gay man. In it, she urged for complete acceptance of homosexuals by society.

While many gay men profess feelings of guilt, depression, and a sense of 'why me?' when they come to their sexual awakening, Dhall wasn't prey to such emotions. "My grounding at home was a solid one. There was a certain importance given to individuality," he says. This was in the '80s and the subject of non-traditional gender relationships was just starting to enter mainstream media.

Based in Kolkata, Dhall is a LGBTQIA+ activist, author and founding member of Varta Trust, a gender and sexuality non-profit. Before that, he worked as the Country Director (Programmes and Development) at the NGO SAATHII (Solidarity and Action Against the HIV Infection in India) for a little more than 12 years. Through his books, papers, and talks, he has continually been an advocate for inclusiveness that goes beyond rhetoric.

"By the time I was 17, I knew I was gay. And I had found enough literature to understand that I was not alone, that there was a movement happening in different parts of the world." Later, quotes from a social worker in Delhi and a psychiatrist in Mumbai in a Sunday Mid-Day article, which encouraged readers to write in via a postbox number, proved to be another major turning point in Dhall's life. Over several months in 1985, he wrote to them, asking questions, clarifying doubts, and slowly understanding what it meant to be queer.