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414. Queer Journeys
Sindhu Rajasekaran with Arundhati Ghosh
Speakers
Some histories vanish not by accident, but by design.
In the wake of colonial rule, Forbidden Desire unspools a compelling narrative of how British imperial power erased India’s far-reaching traditions of gender and sexual diversity. The book draws from feminist historiography, anthropology, South Asian queer theory, decolonial studies and the history of medicine and legislation to map the transformation of lives once lived in fluid, expressive spaces. Author Sindhu Rajasekaran invites us into archive after archive where nautch dancers, courtesans, trans and queer persons, ascetics and masculine women once existed beyond the binaries that later came to dominate.
In conversation with Arundhati Ghosh, this discussion will trace how colonial authorities turned indigenous multiplicities into “criminals”, folding ancient codes of desire into Victorian moral order: think of Section 377, the Contagious Diseases Act, and the Criminal Tribes Act.
More than a simple critique, the evening offers a chance to reimagine our futures by reclaiming what we were taught to forget.
In this episode of BIC Talks, Sindhu Rajasekaran is in conversation with Arundhati Ghosh. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Dec 2025.
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Speakers
Sindhu Rajasekaran
Sindhu Rajasekaran is an author, academic & filmmaker. Her debut novel, Kaleidoscopic Reflections , was nominated for the Crossword Book Award. She has also written a collection of short stories, So I Let It Be , and the bestselling nonfiction book: Smashing the Patriarchy . Sindhu produced the award-winning feature film Ramanujan and is Curatrix at The Subjective Space . Her poetry and creative nonfiction have been published by renowned literary magazines such as The Room, Asia Literary Review, and New Writing Scotland . She has a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Strathclyde , where she was a recipient of the Dean’s Global Research Award. Her latest book is Forbidden Desire: How the British Stole India’s Queer Pasts & Queer Futures, published by Simon & Schuster.
Arundhati Ghosh
Arundhati Ghosh has worked across the arts and culture sector for over three decades, shaping conversations on creativity, philanthropy, and social justice. She was the Executive Director of the India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) from 2013 to 2023, and continues to contribute to institutions such as the Museum of Art and Photography (MAP), Shomokaleen Protibidhan, the Solidarity Foundation, and Maraa. Her voice is sought internationally for its depth on the arts, equity, and cultural practice. A poet in Bangla, her debut collection Oshomoye Phire Esho Nodi Hoye appeared in 2023, followed by All Our Loves: Journeys with Polyamory in India (Aleph, 2025). Whether writing, advising, or speaking, Arundhati brings a rare ability to connect artistic practice with lived realities, making her an influential presence in any dialogue on culture and society. She writes a monthly column on relationships titled Ties and Knots for the Deccan Herald.
