‘We are just a blip’

This is embarrassingrdquo comes the modest reply when this writer texts designer Navonil Das of the eponymous Dev R Nil brand for an interview request This is not how interviews with fashion designers usually begin But then this isnrsquot the usual discussion about a new collection or trendsItrsquos about Das 44 and his advocacy efforts to build local movements for the visibility of the queer community that goes beyond the activistinfluencer matrix ldquoPeople whorsquove made activism their profession can sport the activist title I am lucky to have found a place in the fashion industry for 17 years and hope to leverage this privilege to promote the communityrdquo says Das on a video call while waving his right hand dressed in a Pride wristbandDas came out as gay to his family in 2004 and says it was long before that that he grew aware of his sexual orientation As a fashion student in Australia in 2000 Das remembers attending the Mardi Gras in Sydneymdashhis first ever Pride eventmdashwith his then boyfriend ldquoWhen I saw thousands of joyful faces young and old people of colour creed and sex cemented my resolve to come out to my familyrdquo he recountsHis return to Kolkata coincided with meeting his professional and personal partner Debarghya Bairagi Dev of Dev R Nil ldquoWithin the next six months we launched our brand For the record Dev and I fell in love before we started our brandrdquo he laughs The two are not dating any longer but they live work and holiday together ldquoWe have moved on from being boyfriends to becoming each otherrsquos familyrdquoNavonil Das coorganises the Kolkata Pride which is celebrated each year in DecemberSince publicly disclosing his sexuality Das has volunteered with DialoguesThe Kolkata International LGTBQiA Film and Video Festival and coorganised the Kolkata Pride An incident in 2007 when his trans friend was denied entry into a swish Kolkata nightclub pushed Das in the direction of creating safe spaces for LGBTQiA people ldquoThe usually friendly manager of the said nightclub suddenly turned hostile and said lsquowe donrsquot allow these kind of peoplersquordquo That night Das founded a group on Facebook called Pink Party to address the unicorn in the room how nightclubs ignore the grievances of queer guests who in fact generate steady business for themThe first Pink Party was launched as a monthly event at Kolkatarsquos Park Hotel with a group of 50 It is now a marquee fortnightly event with its own ecosystem of 7000 members and also involves jazz evenings held at various addresses across the country including Keshav Surirsquos Kitty Su nightclubs in Kolkata and New Delhi ldquoThe Pink Party was born out of the desire to create a new sense of space and identity for the queer to allow them to be themselves and with others like them The funds generated from the parties are redirected towards planning yearlong events as part of the Kolkata Pride OrganisationrdquoThe Kolkata Pride which is also Indiarsquos first Pridemdash started out as The Friendship Walk in 1999 It has run every year since except during the pandemic pulling in a bigger crowd every time ldquoBut what is the point of a oneday protest march and afterpartyrdquo he wondersTo give it broader appeal Das pitched Kolkata Pride as a monthlong celebration all through December with notchedup LGBTQiAthemed activities like Pink Pride Ball oneact plays health camps art exhibitions a sports day parents meetandgreet and a postermaking competition This carnivallike celebration interlaced by the demand for equal rights is a message of riposte in a fun sociable wayMuch of the energy that erupts during the Pride month seems to have been hijacked by ldquorainbow capitalismrdquo in which fashion and grooming businesses change their narrative and logos to sell rainbowpackaged merch and convey a message of diversity and inclusion of LGBTQiA communityYet all this showy representation packaging the ldquocoolrdquo energy of the queer in beautifullystyled grids changes little Especially when confronted with translating opportunity into meaningful action To wit the lockdown in 2021 ldquoA large section of transgender people financially support their families by engaging in sex work and the pandemic affected their ability to respond to a daily income The situation was worsened by government healthcare disparitiesrdquo As part of the Kolkata Fashion Fraternity COVID Relief Fundraiser in 2021 Dev R Nil and Nupur Kanoi donated to the Pratyay Gender Trustmdasha sexuality trust cofounded in 1998 by Anindya Hajra and other members of Kolkatarsquos transgender women Together they adopted 80 transgender families Das personally delivered groceries and medicines in his car ldquoMy car had an emergency COVID permit and I covered a distance of 3000 kms within city limits visiting families in transgender neighbourhoodsrdquoTo engage with the community sincerely and advocate for LGBTQiA rights says Das there is an onus on fashion brands to put their money where the merch is donate to queer causes all year round and invest in creating workplaces that are truly inclusive ldquoWhat brands donrsquot understand is that queer people canrsquot turn their LGBTQiA status off when Pride month is over It takes a 365day process of enforcing actual changerdquo