In pictures: Over 20,000 march in the Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk
From Park Circus to Maidan, all roads led to a rainbow-hued Park Street for the oldest Pride Walk of India
By
Vedant Karia |
Published 18.12.23, 05:26 PM
1/8
All roads led to Park Street on December 17, as thousands marched from Lady Brabourne College to the Maidan for the 20th edition of the Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk, the oldest Pride Walk in the country
Photos: Soumyajit Dey
ADVERTISEMENT
2/8
A chorus of over 20,000 chanted ‘Azaadi’, proudly sporting posters of love, inclusivity and resistance
3/8
Fashion designers Nil and Aditya Mohnot walked and waved the Pride Flag. “It was surreal to see traffic come to a halt in the middle of Park Street. I remember when this stretch would be thronged by people for Christmas celebrations, but to see the same street stand still for queer people and their allies was overwhelming. Along with the Pride Flag, we also had the Palestinian Flag. This is only possible in Kolkata, as the city gives you the space to be,” smiled Nil
ADVERTISEMENT
4/8
A trailer energised the procession with 17 performances at pivotal points of Park Street. “Seeing trans-mermaids float and perform on the giant rainbow-winged, sea monster float was an out-of-body experience for me,” said Nil
5/8
Designer Dev, restaurateur Anand Puri, entrepreneur Tina Mukherjee and author Karuna Ezara Parikh were also at the walk. “The Pride Walk never ceases to amaze. It's always colourful, in good spirits and gets younger every year. So much coordination goes into the legalities and permissions, and hats off to kolkatapride.org and Navonil Das,” said Puri, owner of Trincas
6/8
It was the first Pride Walk for (L-R) Aman Tibrewal and Parthiv Bhattacharya, and both of them were blown away by the camaraderie. “There was positivity and energy in the air. Just to see everyone proud of their identity, dressing up in their best attire and feeling a sense of freedom in being themselves was liberating,” said Tibrewal, a data analyst
7/8
People broke gender norms and epitomised style with their outfits. Fashion was used as a tool to personify themes of inclusivity and pride
8/8
Some chants went: “Chhele-chhele ke prem koreche, besh koreche, besh koreche!”
