Butterfly Cho Cho San's tragic love story

Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly is among my favourites. It is the tragic story of a young Japanese girl's love for an American marine.

Recently I went to see a show about this opera. It was a multi-medial show by the Italian musicologist Fabio Sartorelli. It had stories, piano performances of music from the opera, old video-footage and live performance of some scenes by three young actors.

This post is about this show organised by Elia Dalla Costa cultural centre and held at the Civic Theater of Schio (VI, Italy).

Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly

"Madama Butterfly" was based on a French novel written by Pierre Loti in 1887. The opera was written by Italian writer and musician Giacomo Puccini around the turn of 19th century. It premiered as a two-act opera in 1904 in Milan but was heavily criticised. Later that year, Puccini rewrote it as a three-act opera, which became successful.

Operas are the theater of emotions in songs. The tone and the timbre of the voices of singer-actors such as tenor, soprano and mezzo soprano, determines their roles. Operas are a part of the Western classical music tradition.

This opera was based in the 19th century Japan. After centuries of isolation, Japan had opened to the west in 1854. As Western ships started arriving in Japan, their marines wanted the "women of pleasure", but Japan did not allow prostitution. So the women were sold as "temporary wives" to those marines.

Opera's heroine Cho Cho (Butterfly) is a 15 year old girl who becomes the temporary wife of an American marine called Pinkerton. She is naive and falls in love with the man she thinks is her husband. A month later, Pinkerton goes back to America telling Cho Cho that he will be back soon. Cho Cho gives birth to a boy and waits for her "husband". Finally after 3 years, Pinkerton returns but is accompanied by his American wife. Cho Cho commits suicide to facilitate that her son can go to America with his father.

This theme has been adapted also in innumerable Bollywood films such as "Ram Teri Ganga Maili", in which young innocent girls from villages or mountains fall for slick city guys.

Fabio Sartorelli

Fabio Sartorelli is a musicologist from Bologna university and had studied piano at Milan conservatory. He teaches at Como conservatory and Academy of Scala theater of Milan. He also gives talks and performances related to the lives, works and performances of music artists like Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Puccini, Stravinskij and Verdi.

Sartorelli's show

The show touched on Puccini's opera from different angles - from the ideas of racism and colonialism that form the context of the opera, to Giacomo Puccini as a person, and from the different versions of the story of Madam Butterfly written by other authors, to the emotional culmination of the opera when Cho Cho San commits suicide.

Sartorelli explained that in the initial version of the opera, Pinkerton did not appear in the final act and did not show any remorse about what had happened to Butterfly. No tenor wanted to play Pinkerton's role and the opera was heavily criticised. Thus Puccini changed this part of the opera.

The opera was written in a period when there was great public interest in the mysterious Japan that had opened its doors to the foreigners after many centuries. The earlier books about this story, not knowing how the Japanese people talked, had used the American black slaves as a model for expressing them linguistically.

On one hand, the opera showed Cho Cho as a Christian convert, which might have made it easier for the western audience to identify with her fate as an unfortunate woman. On another, the "woman" was actually a 15 year old child, also because in that epoch, exploitation of minors was not seen in the way we look at it today.

The show also touched on Puccini as a person, such as his love for cars, his travels to America, his fame in that country, and his money-making from advertising for pens and mouth-washes.

Three young actors from Piccolo Teatro of Milan (Francesca, Niccolo and Carlo) performed some scenes from the opera.

Sartorelli is an able communicator and a good piano player. He understands the stage, how to raise the tension and how to make people laugh. Though some of the issues touched upon in the show were serious - such as racism and the misrepresentation of cultures, Sartorelli treated them lightly, with wit and irony.

I loved the whole show and Sartorelli's skill in putting together so many different ways of looking at and understanding the opera, its history and the stories of persons linked with it.

Conclusions

For me a key reflection from this show was that we can look at the famous creative maestros like Giacomo Puccini in critical ways - to see them not as mythical figures but as human beings, with their weaknesses and warts, without diminishing in any way the recognition of their genius in creating amazing works of art.

It is also important to remember the context of those times when we criticise many of its specific aspects. Such an opera, if written today, would very likely be booed and forced to close down by protesters. For example, for much less, in recent times writers have been accused of cultural appropriation and made to pay a heavy price.

Loving operas written hundred or more years ago means learning to look at those artistic works from different angles and yet continue to be touched and moved by them.

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A Theater and Photography workshop

I love both theater and photography. Thus, when I heard about the workshop on "Theater and Photography", I immediately knew that I wanted to join it. It was a perfect opportunity to meet actors and to reflect with them on the significance of theater and to understand the role of photography in it.

Theater and Photography Workshop

The workshop was an idea of Roberto Rizzotto, a noted photographer and cultural personality of Schio (VI) in the north-east of Italy. We didn't have any discussions about technical aspects of photography. Instead, our discussions focused on what Roberto calls the "Anthropology of Photography", which meant that photography is not just about getting a good picture, rather it is a pathway for a deeper understanding of theater, culture and ultimately human nature.

Schio Teatro 80

The workshop was organised in collaboration with a local theater group of Schio (VI) called "Schio Teatro 80". Started in 1980, it is one of the oldest non-professional theater institutions in Veneto region of Italy with around 70 volunteer members. Since 1989, every year it organises a theater training course.

Workshop Approach

During the workshop we worked with three actors - Tanina Amato, Alessandro Testolin and Elena Righele, spending around 1.5 - 2 hrs with each actor. Each actor presented a short performance, which we watched as spectators without clicking any pictures, so as to absorb the different aspects of the recitation.

Then the actor repeated the performance and this time, we photographed it. Finally, the actor and photographers discussed different aspects of the performance, such as the costume, the make-up, the gestures used and the significance of the performance for the actor. These discussions were additional opportunities for photographing specific aspects of the performance. Let me briefly illustrate the three performances.

Tanina Amato

Tanina did a brief performance on women victims of violence called "The sense of honour". The scene was based in afterlife where she first appeared as Carmela, a Sicilian woman who was killed by her husband because she had a love affair. Her second role was of Amina, a woman of Tabriz in Iran, who had been killed by stoning.

She had chosen a black dress with vivid red lipstick and bright eye makeup for this role. She started the performance by putting make-up on the stage and showed the transformation of the actor for the role.

Among the photographers, two aspects of her performance created a strong impact. First, was her feisty, unrepentant and sharp-tongued representation of Carmela, who is aware of her body and her desires. The second was her use of the black veil to cover Amina, showing just her hands, to express her desire of freedom.

Alessandro Testolin

Alessandro started with the old Venetian tradition of "Commedia dell'arte" (Art comedy) from 15-17th century that included the use of the mask for a theater based on satire. Using a red mask, he performed a provocative piece.

He also repeated the performance without a mask and shared his own unease about saying provocative things on the stage without the possibility of hiding behind a mask.

Then he did a short piece as Benedick from "Much ado about nothing" and finally concluded with a piece on Iago, the antagonist from William Shakespeare's play "Othello".

Elena Reghele

Elena first did an intense piece from Ingmar Bergman's play "Wood Painting" about a woman who has been declared a witch and who is going to be burned at the stake. Before, her piece, she showed a scene from Bergman's film "The seventh seal" based on this play.

Her second piece was a more playful expression of emotions as depicted in a Pollock-like painting. She did the piece with a blank canvas. Each emotion was linked to a colour. Thus, by changing her facial expressions and her gestures she was painting that canvas with those colours. This performance concluded with the presentation of the painting she was expressing through her emotions.

This explanation of her second performance was illuminating in making sense of her improvised dance around the canvas. I loved this performance.

Discussion and Conclusions

The whole day was a marvelous full-immersion in art and culture, linking the art of theater to the art of photography. The time passed very quickly and at the end I felt enriched by a greater understanding of what it means to be an actor. For example, it was fascinating to hear a discussion about transformation of theater in Italy from Comedy art to the plays by Goldoni and then by Pirandello.

Something that Elena said, resonated deeply with me. She said that in theater, mind, body and heart. all the three are needed. Mind because the actor needs to remember and think. Body because, actor must express through the body. And heart because, without the heart, there is no performance. At the same time, an actor must make sure that heart must not become too deeply involved - because it is a performance, it must have an end and the actor has to retain his/her sanity. I think that this mind-body-heart thing applies also to photography as well as to many other things in life.

The workshop made me think about the shadow of the actor on the stage. Normally, I prefer close-ups during a performance and to catch the different emotions they are expressing. The image below has Tanina with her shadow as she threw up the black cloth she was using as a veil.

I liked the idea of "anthropology of photography" where photography was not just about aesthetics and getting a "good picture". I liked the idea that photography could become a channel to engage with and to understand the art and the world.

Not all the persons participating in the workshop seemed to share this idea of photography.

I want to conclude this post by thanking Roberto, Schio Teatro 80 and the three actors - Tanina, Alessandro and Elena for their performances and their easy acceptance of our numerous demands and questions during the workshop.

The last image is of Elena Righele, who was absolutely wonderful in the part where she expressed the colours through her emotions.

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The Prince of Ayodhaya & Ramayana

The stories about Rama, the prince of Ayodhaya in north India, trace their roots in the oral traditions of antiquity. From India, the stories of Rama spread to neighbouring countries. Even today, the echoes of the stories about Rama's life are part of living cultural traditions of India, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

This post presents some of my favourite images related to Ramayana, the story of Rama.

Rama's Story

The central theme of Rama's story is that of obedience and respect of the parents. The widespread enduring popularity of this story after so many centuries continues to surprise people.

Rama was a prince, the eldest son of king Dasharath of Ayodhaya in north India. He married princess Sita.

However when the time came for Rama to become the king of Ayodhaya, there was a problem. His step-mother Kekayi wanted her son Bharat to be the king.

King Dashrath had three wives. Kekayi was his youngest wife. She asked the king to send Rama to exile for 14 years and in his place, install Bharat as the king of Ayodhaya. The old king was bound to Kakayi by an old vow and was forced to accept her request, even if he felt that it was unjust.

Rama assured his father that he will obey and live in exile for 14 years. His wife Sita and another borther, Laxman, decided to follow him in his exile. The old king died. Bharat, who was away and did not know what had happened, came back to Ayodhaya and discovered that he was supposed to be the king. He refused and instead went to the forest to seek Rama and asked him to come back.

However, Rama said that he had promised their father to live in exile for 14 years and he can not break his promise. Thus, Bharat went back to Ayodhaya and governed it as a caretaker king, waiting for Rama to come back.

In the forest, Sita was kidnapped by the Rakshas king Ravan. With the help of the Ape king Sugriva, his Ape army and the Ape warrior Hanuman, Rama foght with Ravan and killed him. In the mean time 14 years had passed and thus, Rama returned to Ayodhaya and became the king.

Other Characters from Ramayana

While the images above are about Prince Rama, his Sita and his younger brother Laxman, below you will find some images of other characters in Ramayana.

Rakshas king Ravan: People unfamiliar with Indian way of reasoning, think of the Ravan as a kind of demon. However, in Ramayana, Ravan is also a learned Brahmin and there is a tradition to praying to him. The image of Ravana below is from Kalakshetra in Guwahati (India).

Hanuman and the Ape army: Hanuman is the chief helper and supporter of Rama. He is the son of the wind god and can fly. He is also considered as the patron saint and defender of unmarried young men, to whom he teaches celibacy. The image of Hanuman below is from a Ramlila procession in old Delhi (India).

Here is  another image of Hanuman from a Kathakkali performance in Bologna (Italy).

Jatayu Garuda: The Garuda bird named Jatayu is a friend of Rama in the forest. He tries to save Sita from the kidnapping. Below you will find images of his sculptures from Assam (India) and Bangkok (Thailand). Garuda is also the name of the Indonesian airlines.

Kevat, the boat man: Ramayana has different characters of simple tribal persons such as Kevat, the boat man, who play an important role in the story. During Rama's exile from Ayodhaya, Kevat organises their crossing of the river Sarayu. The image below has Kevat and Prince Rama from a Ramlila in a village in Gurgaon, not far from Delhi (India).

Rama's Stories in Different Languages

The oral history traditions of India credit a sage-poet called Valmiki for having written the first version of Ramayana. Valmiki's Ramayana was written in the ancient Indic language Sanskrit and has 24,000 sholokas (verses) divided into seven chapters.

Another version of Ramayana written in Avadhi, a dialect of Hindi, in the 16th century called "Ram Charit Manas" made it more accessible to common persons. This was written by Tulsidas Goswami. It is commonly read aloud in village squares and along the rivers in different parts of India. The image below is from Varanasi where Ram Charit Manas is being recited on the banks of river Ganges.

Each language of India has its own version of Ramayana. For example, Shri Ranganatha Ramayana in Telugu, Katha Ramayana in Assamese, Tulsi Krita Ramayana in Gujarati and Dandi Ramayana in Oriya.

Outside India, Indoensia has Kakawin Ramayana, Thailand has Ramakien, Cambodia has Reamker, Laos has Phra Lak Phra Lam, Myanmar has Yamayana and Sri Lanka has Janakiharan. In Nepal, the Dashain festival celebrating the win of Rama and the defeat of Ravan is the most important religious event in their calendar.

In Thailand, the kings take on the name of Rama and the ancient capital of Thailand was called Ayutthaya. Many Asian countries have living traditions of presenting the Ramayana stories through dance, theatre, puppets and other art forms. The image below has Rama, Sita and Laxman from Thailand.

In India, many Hindu homes have a copy of Ramcharit Manas. In villages there are traditions of singing parts of Ramayana during festive occasions. In autumn each year, India celebrates the ten days of Dusshera, symbolising the ten days of war between Rama and Ravan, described in Ramayana. During these ten days, towns and villages organise popular plays called Ramlila, to present the story of Ramayana. Most images of Rama in this post are from these Ramlila celebrations.

The tenth day of Dusshera, coincides with the death of Ravan, and is celebrated as Vijaya Dakshmi. Twenty days later, the return of Rama to his kingdom in Ayodhaya is celebrated as Diwali, the festival of lights.

Even the other Indic religions, including Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism include references to the stories of Rama. For example, the stories about Buddha describe him as a prince of Ishvaku dynasty, the dynasty of Rama in Ramayana.

Perhaps the first oral traditions of Ramayana had started when the urban settlements and agriculture were still new and the memories of ancient hunter-gatherer societies was still alive. Rama's exile in the forest to the hunter-gatherer way of living must have touched deep feelings of identification in the persons.

Thus, the story of Rama, a tradition going back at least a few thousand years ago, still continues to resonate with millions of persons around different countries. Rama is considered an Avatar of Vishnu and Ramayana is part of the sacred texts of India. Even today persons in rural India greet each other with a "Ram-Ram" and say goodbye with a "Jai Ramji ki". The name of Rama was also there in the last words of Mahatma Gandhi when he was shot and killed, he died saying "Hey Ram".

Conclusions

As a child, I grew up in the narrow streets of Old Delhi. Reading the stories of Ramayana in a children's magazine called "Chandamama" and listening to the chowpais (verses) of Ram Charit Manas in community readings in the neighbourhood.

Why did Rama's story had such a deep impact on the communities in India and other Asian countries? One of the reasons could be that its values - love and respect for the parents, obedience, respect for brothers, were all values necessary for the survival of agricultural societies based on extended family systems. Thus, the story found acceptance in different countries of Asia. (Another image of Thailand Ramayana below).

Another aspect of Ramayana is the understanding about the spiritual dimension of life along with renunciation of material comforts and living in isolation, which is also seen in Prince Gautama's abandonment of his palace and his wanderings in the forest to become Buddha. Material comforts versus renunciation is a common and enduring theme of different Indic religions, sacred stories and mythologies.

Ramayana and the story of the prince of Ayodhaya has survived for centuries, growing like a tree with a common root but branches going in different directions.


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Dancing in Assam

Assam in the north-east of India has a rich tradition of dance, music and theatre. This photo-essay presents some of the classical and folk traditions of Assam.

People of Assam 

Assamese people are a mixture of different races and ethnicities. Over the centuries, people from central and north India, from the Tibetan plateau, from the neighbouring areas of China, Myanmar and Bangladesh, have all contributed to Assamese people and cultures.

Ahoms, who came from the neighbouring Myanmar in the 12th century and ruled Assam for almost eight hundred years, have been a strong influence. Neighbouring Bengal and Odisha, have also been an important influence.

Assam also has different indigenous groups such as Bodo, Mising, Deori, Rabha, Tiwa, Lalung, Khamti, Sonowal, Karbi, Naga, Dimasa and Singpo. It also has tribes from central India who were brought to Assam by the British during the past hundred and fifty years to work in the tea gardens (tea tribes).

All these different groups of people bring their cultures to Assam and thus contribute to the richness of the Assamese dance, music and theatre traditions.

Traditional Dance, Music and Theatre

Traditional performing arts of Assam are of two kinds - folk traditions and classical traditions.

Folk traditions are based in rural communities and are orally transmitted between the generations. Only over the past decades, written materials about some folk traditions have been developed.

Folk theatre can be on different themes - religious, satires related to daily lives, romantic stories and historical figures. Assam has different folk theatre traditions focusing on religious themes such as Ojapali, Kamrupia Dhulia, Putula Nach, etc. Another area of religious folk theatre is Jatra, which also has many variations in Assam such as Manai Jatra and Bhasan Jatra. Finally, there are dramatic theatre traditions that can be religious or non-religious, such as Paseti and Mothoni.

Classical traditions of Assam are strongly influenced by the Vaishnavaite teachings of Shrimanta Shankar Dev and his disciple Madhabdev in the 16th -17th centuries. Religious centres called Sattra established by the followers of Shankar Dev have developed cultural traditions. These revolve around the texts of Padma Purana and other Hindu scriptures. Classical traditions are governed by codified norms. These include Bhaona theatre, Gayan-Bayan singing traditions and Sattriya dance.

Traditional dances and theatre are accompanied by different musical instruments such as cymbals (Kartal, Khutital, Bhortal), anklets, drums (Joidhol, Deodhol, Nagara, Bordhol, Mridanga, Khol), flutes (Kali, Benu, Bonsi) and cord-instruments (Lautukari, Benu, Aktara).

During 20th century, Bhupen Hazarika, a multi-faceted Assamese artist with interests in folk music, dance and theatre, has been a significant influence in Assam, leading to a renaissance of the traditional art forms.

Classical Music, Dance and Theatre of Assam

Majuli island in Brahmaputra, not far from Jorhat, has the most important Sattra that carry forward the legacy of Shrimanta Shankar Dev.

The image below presents a scene from Ramayana from a Bhaona performance of a group from Majuli, showing princess Sita. All the female roles in Bhaona are usually played by men.

Popular folk theatre also uses masks in performances. The next image has a Krishna Putula for a theatre performance, created by master craftsman Debkanta Mahanta.

The next image presents Gayan-Bayan, the singing and story-telling tradition from a sattra in Majuli. These are sung by male monks from the Sattra and are accompanied by percussion drums (dhol) and medium size cymbals. During the singing there are also dancing movements using the drums.

The third image presents a Sattriya dance performance by Ms Shrutimala Medhi of Guwahati. Often the Sattriya dance is used to tell a story about Krishna and are like one-act plays (Ankiya Nat). However, the dance can also be abstract. The movements of hands (mudra) and feet (pada), as well as the different body postures must follow the codified dance norms.

The next image has a group of Cymbal dancers, a kind of Sattriya dance, where the dancers use medium size cymbals during their dance.

Traditional Dance and Theatre linked with Bihu

Bihu festivals linked with agricultural life are the most popular cultural events of Assam. There are three Bihu festivals – Rongali Bihu, Kongali Bihu and Bhogali Bihu. Bihu folk dance is the most popular dance of Assam.

During this dance, men are responsible for singing, music and dance. The music instruments used in the dance include cymbols, dhols (drums) and pepa. The men wear dhoti and gamocha. The women wear mekhla-chador dresses and one of their characteristic dance movement is that of bending slightly forward with hands on their backs, as shown in the next image.

Folk Music, Dance and Theatre of Assam

The first image has boys in the traditional dress of Dimasa (children of the river) tribe who are part of Kachari people. Their mythological stories are about Bangla raja (earthquake god) and a divine bird called Arikhidima.

This group was from Dima Hasao (sometimes called Hsiao) district of Assam. Their drum is called Khram.

The next image has dancing young women from the Mising (also called Mishing) tribe. This is one of the bigger tribes of Assam, spread over different districts. This dance is called Lotta Sohman and is accompanied by folk songs called Oi Nitom.

Karbi tribe is one of the larger groups of persons in Assam. This tribe lives in the hills across different districts. The next image has a martial dance called Chong Kedam performed by the men and women of Karbi tribe who carry swords and shields.

It is said that the Karbi tribe is originally from China and this dance is about their southwards journey when they came to Assam. During the dance, the male dancers show vigorous exercises.

The next image is also about the Karbi tribe and shows the young men in the Nemso Kerung dance. This dance is part of Chomonkan ceremony related to a funeral of elderly persons in the family.

Assam is also home to some Naga tribes. Next image has a group of Naga dancers from the Karbi Anglong district. Naga dresses have a dominance of black and red colours.

Assam has a significant number of Muslims and traditional Axamia Muslim communities are culturally integrated in mainstream. Zikra is the specific traditional music form linked with the Axamia Muslims, shown in the next image.

The Next image is about the Popular Theatre of Assam – from the play Sati Bahula directed by Lakhendra Gunnakar Goswami.

Assam shares the tradition of wandering singing mistrals called Bauls with neighbouring Bengal. Bauls are often travellers who carry their songs of devotion to the rural areas. Though close to Hindu ascetics, they also include persons from the Muslim Sufi tradition. The last image of this post has a woman Baul singer during the Ambubashi festival at Kamakhaya temple in Guwahati.

Conclusions

This is just a brief glimpse into the rich traditional dance, theatre and music heritage of Assam in the north-east of India. I lived for about a year and half in Guwahati, the capital of Assam, during 2015-16. This was a great opportunity to know and appreciate some of those traditions.

References: Folk Theatre of Assam, by Gitali Saikia & Sanjib Luchan Tamuli, Jansanyog, Directorate of Information and Public Relations, Assam, India

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Queer Theatre & Short Films - DIQTFF

Theatre and films are wonderful ways to create awareness and understanding about GLBT issues. At the same time, cultural events are opportunities for persons to come out, to have fun and to be with persons who understand their issues and dilemmas. Recently I had the opportunity to witness some of the short films and theatre events organised during the Delhi International Queer Theatre and Film Festival (DIQTFF).

This post is about my experiences on the first day of DIQTFF. Let me start with some of the theatre performances of this festival before talking about the short films. The image above is from a performance by the Sangwari theatre group.

ASMITA THEATRE GROUP

I had already heard about the Asmita Theatre Group of Delhi, which was founded  in 1993 by the well known theatre personality Arvind Gaur. During DIQTFF, Asmita presented different performances. I saw only one of these - Pehchan (Identity). It was led by Shilpi Marwaha.

Using a street-theatre approach, actors wearing dark blue kurtas appeared on the stage accompanied by a few drums. Short interactions between the actors followed one another in quick succession, weaving a tapestry of dialogues from daily lives around the GLBT issues. Parents talking about an effeminate child, young men talking about a gay classmate, a young woman wondering about her attraction to another woman, fears of the parents of a gay son, people commenting about transgender persons on the street, and so on. Usual casual prejudices and discriminations.

There was little time to think about the things said on the stage, as one verbal exchange led to another, signaled by a brief beat of drums. The culmination of the performance was in two moments of violence. In the first episode, a young girl had been sent to her married sister's house where her brother-in-law raped her to "cure" her attraction for another girl. In the second episode, a young man was sexually abused by his friends because he was gay and needed to be taught a lesson, while one "friend" recorded the violence on his mobile phone.

Most of the exchanges and episodes of the performance were allowed to sink in without any explanations while a few times, one of the actors provided the context and a brief explanation. For example, as the young girl was raped, another actor informed that a large number of lesbian girls face sexual violence to "cure" them of their attraction for their own sex.

It was a very effective performance, leaving me stunned and shocked. It deserved the huge appreciation and standing ovation given to it by the audience. The direct language used in the performance was very effective. I wish it can be seen by the students of all high schools and colleges.

OXANA CHI AND LAYLA ZAMI

Oxana and Layla are two artists from Berlin, Germany who are a couple in real life and complement each other in a wonderful dance and music performance. Both of them are German but have immigrants among their ancestors (One of Oxana's great grandfathers was from India).

The performance has Oxana's contemporary dance and Layla's music. Apart from a saxophone and some strange looking string instruments, Layla also uses some objects from daily life to create her music including some old newspapers and a cup of rice grains.

The performance was like a dream in slow motion expressing different emotions through sounds and body movements. A few years ago, during the world dance festival in Bologna (Italy) I had seen a group of Italian dancers express mental illness through their dance. Oxana and Layla's performance reminded me of that experience. Usually dance and music are seen as motion, dynamism and rhythm. However, appreciating their performance required a slowing down and focusing of attention, almost like being in meditation.

SANGWARI THEATRE GROUP

Sangwari theatre group from Delhi was started in 1994. Their performance at DIQTFF focused on spaces given to transgender persons in India. Through dances, questions and role plays it looked at the kind of visibility and space given to lives of transgender persons in the Hindu scared books, in the school books and in the classrooms, in science and in livelihood opportunities. It concluded that the spaces given to transgender persons are almost non-existent and when they are given, they are demeaning to the dignity of persons.

Through the loud claps and brazen gestures commonly adopted by traditional transgender persons (hijra and kinnars) in the streets in India, the performance touched on different issues by laughing at them and making the audience laugh with them, even when it talked about brutality and violence. This made the performance more poignant and effective.

Like the performance by Asmita group, their performance was very powerful, leaving questions in my mind about human insensitivity that allows such brutal exploitation of other human beings without questioning the social norms.

SHORT FILMS AT DIQTFF

Compared to the theatre performances, the short films presented on the first day of DIQTFF were less powerful and effective. Most of the short films were not made by professionals. Some of them had very poor sound quality. A few were not very exciting visually, limiting themselves to a fixed shots. Here is a brief introduction to the films shown in the festival:

Darwaze (Doors) by Aditya Joshi is about two young guys, Shashank and Komal, who come to live in a flat. Their landlord's brother Mr Kale and his wife, Mrs Sujata Kale (Sanyogita Bhave), live next door. Sujata becomes friends with the boys. One day Mr Kale discovers that the two guys are gay and live as a couple. Angry, he asks them to vacate the flat. Sujata tries to reason with her husband saying that the boys are nice guys, but Kale does not relent. "In our family we don't have such perversions," he says. (Below, a still from the film with the actors playing Sujata and Shashank).

Few months later, Kale's son comes back from the hostel and has a secret to share with his parents. Kale is shocked and unable to say a word. Sujata laughs. It is a short and sweet film. The image above shows Sujata and Shashank from the film.

Khunnas (Estrangement) by Nasir Ahmed is a short film in Bengali. It is about the relationship between a man and his young son, who likes to dress up as a girl. The man does not like it when his son wants to put on make-up and dress like girls but he is also loving to the child. His girlfriend does not like the young boy and says that such boys are not accepted in the society. She tells the man that as long as he has the boy, she will not marry him. One day the man takes his son to a far away place and abandons him in a market. An eunuch takes away the crying boy. Later the man repents and goes to look for his child but can not find him.

The film is a little melodramatic, looking at the child's abandonment from father's point of view, but still makes an impact.

Satrangi by Ankit Tiwari is about homosexuality and GLBT rights as seen by different religions. Made by a group of students, it asks Hindu and Christian priests their views about GLBT issues and uses a Newslaundry video about an Islamic leader about these issues.

"In the Mood for Love" by ?? - I didn't see the tile of this film when it was shown. I am not even sure about its title, which could have been "Love My Way". I searched but could not find more information about this film. However it was one of the better films of the festival.

This film explored the personal meanings given to love in the lives of different GLBT couples. For example, one story was about a gay couple, Rishi and Bijoy. Another story was about a trans-woman Pradipta Ray who wants to be a film maker.

Five Questions by Mohit Arora is about the TV interview of a gay celebrity and the questions asked to him to explain his life choices and the secret of the mask covering his face. The image below has Mohit Arora and some other members of his team.

I have an advice for the young film-makers - when you are sending a film to a festival, make a Facebook page about your film, provide information about your crew and post a few images from your film. None of the films presented in DIQTFF had any Facebook page and I could not find any online information about the works of their film-makers. The only person for whom some online information was present was Aditya Joshi, the director of Darwaze.

CONCLUSIONS

Though the quality of short films shown at DIQTFF was uneven, it was compensated by the high level of the three theatre performances. Among the performances, my vote for the most impressive performance goes to Asmita Theatre Group.

So many beautiful films on Queer themes are available on Youtube. I think that curators of DIQTFF should select and show a couple of those films in their festival. This will inspire persons in the audience as well as the young film makers to improve their work.

During DIQTFF, Sahil Verma also presented the Harmless Hugs anthology of short stories. The festival was also an occasion to present a photo-exhibition of Alok Johri, "No Conditions Apply".

Later in the evening, well known Bollywood writer, singer and actor Piyush Mishra presented some of his poems and songs, including my personal favourite from Gangs of Wasseypur, "Ik bagal mein chand hoga".

The festival organised by Harmless Hugs was supported by Love Matters India, Impulse AIDS Health Care Foundation and many other organisations.

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