'Same-sex love had always been openly written about in India'

Ruth Vanita is an academic activist and author who specialises in lesbian and gay studies gender studies British and South Asian literary history Author of several books and literary translations she has also published academic articles on Virginia Woolf and Indian literature in journals including Shakespeare Survey and Studies in English Literature 15001900 Excerpts from an interviewVanita believes that this poetry depicts crosssex romances and samesex romances in the same toneQ What makes precolonial Lucknow an important time and space for research in exploring the subject of samesex desires especially with literatureA Precolonial Lucknowrsquos court culture was exceptional in the prominence women obtained and the Nawabsrsquo patronage of the arts and crafts The British were draining the state of Awadhrsquos exchequer so the Nawabs preferred to spend money on patronising all arts and crafts from music dance poetry to puppetry juggling and theatre Hundreds of women were employed at court in different capacities and were very well paid Women of the royal family exercised immense influence over the Nawabs Courtesans who were highly educated women often poets were treated as intellectual equals by many male poets They were the only women in the highest tax brackets and owned considerable property Samesex love had always been openly written about in India Malemale attraction is one of the themes of precolonial Urdu poetry in general but the unique feature in precolonial Lakhnavi poetry is the depiction of femalefemale relationships as well The most important thing about this poetry is that it depicts crosssex romances and samesex romances in the same tone showing that all relationships face ups and downs and all lovers experience similar emotions Unlike heavily Persianised Urdu poetry this is written in simple colloquial language easily understandable even today and was popular in its timeGender Sex and the City Urdu Rekhti Poetry in India 17801870 Q How much of what has been written of samesex relationships in that era remains relevant todayA A lot of it This poetry depicts relationships of different kinds mdash flirtations flings committed monogamous couples lovers in union lovers in separation and clandestine affairs Actual locations in cities are mentioned as places where lovers meet for example the gardens around Qutb Saheb in Delhi and Qaisar Bagh in Lucknow Couples crosssex and samesex meet in parks just as they do today They have secret trysts on rooftops in gardens and in mohallas They also go shopping together and enjoy dressing each other up Samesex couples can also share each otherrsquos clothing They pine when they are apart and write love letters to each otherRuth VanitaQ Does presentday Urdu poetry reflect influences from the precolonial era Has the freedom of expression changed since thenA No After 1857 when the British formally took over the administration they reshaped law education and culture Educated Indians internalised a deep suspicion of erotic pleasure and art that celebrated such pleasure Such poetry in all languages came under a cloud of social disapproval Litterateurs believed that art should have an educative and moral value It should not simply celebrate beauty love and pleasure Much of Lakhnavi poetry was irretrievably lost Much of it disappeared into the depths of libraries Recently a Government of Indiafunded project has reissued all available Rekhti poetry in womenrsquos voices in Urdu in three volumes However Rekhta poetry in menrsquos voices dealing with many subjects including malefemale and malemale romance by these same poets still remains largely unavailableOn Today 6 pm to 8 pm at The Hive Chuim Village Road Bandra WCall 9820998790Cost Rs 300