Scenes from Fire (top) and (center) the recent Girlfriend. (Above) Anahita, Poonam and Ankita: Ready to roll

First there was Fire, and then came Girlfriend. But in between, there were a few lesser-publicised efforts to chart the course of the lesbian movement in India. And a small but significant contribution came from rather unexpected quarters — three student film-makers from a Calcutta college, with their debut, Cinders.

The idea was to do something a little different, and touch upon a taboo issue, to create a sense of social consciousness. So, the three final-year students of St Xavier’s College’s mass communication and videography under-graduate course chose to highlight the status of the homosexual community in Calcutta.

But at their first stop — a psychiatrist’s chamber — a suggestion sparked a reaction. Make a film on lesbians instead. The all-woman trio agreed, choosing to go with the gender angle. So began an unusual journey for Anahita Sahney, Ankita Dhariwal and Poonam Khara.

“First we went to some of the support groups and organisations for lesbians,” explains Anahita. “Members of Sappho showed us a letter that actually provided the inspiration for our story. It was a suicide note by a woman, talking about how she and her children’s nanny had been brutalised by her husband, because of their relationship.”

So the 25-minute film centres around a housewife who is convinced by a film-maker to tell her story on camera, anonymously. However, she is betrayed, and when her family finds out, the housewife leaves home of her own accord and makes a new life for herself —as an activist.

“We wanted to give a positive ending to the film, to create awareness,” says Ankita. “While Fire was a great film, exploring the issue, it ended on a sad note. And all the women we met felt a positive ending would work in their favour, especially since lesbians face far more violence — usually from their husbands — than homosexual men.”

Dispelling misconceptions about sexual preferences was their primary aim. “A popular misconception is that it’s a case of two friends who are emotionally attached, which develops into something more. But some women are just not attracted to men, like a girl I spoke to, who had a boyfriend at one time,” Ankita adds.

But it is the women’s struggle to find an identity and a place for themselves in society that is the mainstay of the film. “Like this young girl I met who was thrown out of home. Her mother is permanently on the verge of a nervous breakdown and her father had taken her to the doctor and asked him to cure her. Today, she lives with her partner. Her strength is inspiring,” feels Ankita.

A side story that they tried to portray was the ethics of filmmaking, adds Anahita, because “we have a responsibility, too.” The 21-year-olds hope to screen Cinders at Coffee Pai, Caffeine and Cloud 9, after August.

Bengal is back

They went to Tamil Nadu with high expectations, and they are back having proven their worth. The 33-member West Bengal rowing team took part in the national championships in Kodaikanal, winning three golds in the sub-junior girls’ section and a silver in the sub-junior boys’ section.

Though the results are better than last year where Bengal won just one gold, the seniors fell back a little. This category was swept away by the army teams. In the sub-junior girls’ singles scull competition, Meenakshi Bhaskar won the gold for Bengal, while in the pairs and doubles scull contest Ananya Pal and Taniya Bhattacharya, and Meenakshi Bhaskar and Ananya Pal won jointly.

“Meenakshi beat the same girl from Maharashtra to whom she lost in the heats,” said jubilant coach Goutam Valecha. Manager Sandeep Gupta was all praise for the three girls: “All of them were outstanding.”

In the sub-junior boys coxed fours category, Mayank Gupta, Subir Das, Akshay Gupta and Vikram Lakhotia won the silver for Bengal. Considering the rainy, cold weather, the team is happy with the results. “The main problem was lack of oxygen due to high altitude. We used to have breathing problems after each race,” said Taniya Bhattacharya.

Watch out for Bengal in Bangalore next year.

— Subhajoy Roy,
Mitra Institution

Children make merry on the sidelines of a parenting workshop at Crossword. Picture by Amit Datta

High honours

The 7th Rajya Puraskar rally was held on June 17 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan to award the scouts and adult leaders for their work and dedication to the movement. The chief guest was Governor Viren J. Shah. Also present was Shyamal Kumar Biswas, state chief scout and deputy commissioner scout, India.

First, the highest and second highest state awards for adult leaders were handed out. Then the thanks awards were given to those who, despite not being a part of the movement, had done commendable work.

Next, perhaps the most awaited part of the evening arrived when the governor handed over the Rajya Puraskar, the highest state level award, to 70 scouts and 63 guides.

Students from city schools like Modern High, Hartley’s, National High School (girls’) and Pratt Memorial were among the winners. After a speech, the governor hosted tea for the gathering, with the young scouts and guides toasting their success.

They are now gearing up for the Rashtrapati Scout Award, the highest national award. But when they left Rashtrapati Bhavan, they had made a mark on the hearts of all present.

— Nihar Jain,
Class X, Lakshmipat Singhania Academy

One for the pets

Give animals in distress the “bear necessities” for survival and spend a delightful evening in the process, too. Animal Relief and Care Society (ARC) has teamed up with students and professionals to put up the latest production of The Jungle Book. All proceeds from the play, to be staged on July 1 and 2 at GD Birla Sabhagar, will go towards the construction of an animal shelter the voluntary organisation is planning to set up.

Students from schools including St James, La Martiniere and Loreto House will get into character as Mowgli, Baloo, Kaa, Sher Khan and the rest of the gang, under the direction of Aniket Debroy, an ex-student of St James, where he is currently teaching. A number of the NGO’s formidable list of supporters, including some of the city’s stage veterans, are pitching in, like Gitanjali Jolly, helping out with the sets, and Hyacinth Malkani, designing the costumes. Neel Adhikary and his group Span will be playing a mix of pre-recorded and live music.

ARC has been active in a number of schools, organising awareness projects on pet care and dog shows. The students also drop in to help out at the clinic, which is currently used mainly to sterilise dogs. In December, the organisation had held the Ingo Bongo Rock Shok as its first fundraiser.

Kudos and more…

…To Future of Bengal, for distributing free books among needy students. About 600 students of Classes VI to IX were benefited. Each student was given five books requested by them in their application forms. This was the seventh year of the programme organised by the club, which was started in 1997 with 100 students from local schools. This year, the students had even travelled from places like Ashoknagar and Madhyamgram.

…To film-maker Raja Sen, Nriti Kala Kendra, Bangla band Bhoomi and others for organising a charity musical evening at Madhusudan Mancha. Rs 10,000 from the proceeds was given to Divine School, Shakherbazar, for the education of the handicapped children, during an evening of entertainment last week.

…To the Young Writers’ Workshop, a non-formal, non-profit group, for launching the Welcome to the Media programme, a set of creative topics to train students in a variety of media-related subjects like reporting, script-writing, TV journalism, film and music appreciation. The organisation selects students between 13 and 22 years of age from schools and colleges and provides them extensive training.

…To Sarabjit Mitra and Arya Datta of Hartley’s High School, for making it to the finals of the ESPN School Quiz 2004. Watch them pit their wits against the Pune and Chennai teams in the second and third rounds of the best of three finals on the sports channel on June 29 and 30, for a prize of Rs 5 lakh and a ticket to see a sporting event anywhere in the world.