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When we speak of identity, it is imperative to remember that each one of us fulfils several of them at the same time. I play the role of a daughter, a woman, a writer, a heterosexual, and a cisgender person, along with many more circles of identities. We live at the intersection of them all, and oftentimes, for many, these minute pockets of intersections are missing from the mainstream consciousness.
One of these areas is that of the queer community in regional India. The lack of awareness and acceptance exists as such, but even to contest that, there is next to no queer-educational content available in regional languages.
Indian drag artist Patruni Sastry acknowledges exactly this gap. As a Telugu queer person, they struggled to find some or any content in Indian media in Telugu that caters to the queer community. This is how the birth of the first Telugu queer podcast, Rangualarattnam, took place.
“I believe this is my way to give back to my mother tongue the vocabulary of the queer [community], which would make a safe space for self-expression of every Telugu queer individual.”
— Patruni Sastry
Patruni emphasises the need for the existence of queer content in regional languages because “...it connects all people across all sections.” The fundamentals of the idea are rather simple –– to be able to express one’s queer identity, and not have to struggle to do so because of the lack of means to address queer identity itself.
Rangualarattnam, which translates to a ‘colourful carousel’, is a monthly podcast that brings on a queer individual for each episode and aims to explore narratives across the community, and also bring in more experiences with time.
“I want to cover queer stories of Telugu people and want to ensure I have stories across class, caste, religion, gender orientations, and the sexuality spectrum. I want to grow as a Telugu household podcast channel for queer topics, and make it reachable to rural and urban Telugu people.”
— Patruni Sastry
Regional languages and queer identity are tied closer than we see on the surface. The former is a vehicle for self-expression, but the lack of attention to it renders many queer Indians confused and frustrated.
Rangualarattnam is available to stream on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Jio Saavn, Google Podcasts, and more.
You can listen to Rangualarattnam on Spotify here.
Find Rangualarattnam on Instagram here.
Find Patruni Sastry here.
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