Stories of Hope, Survival and Change: Queer and Dalit re-imaginings of Cities in India

Abstract:
I rarely visit home. It has been a decade since I migrated to Delhi for studies. My parents and grandmother were apprehensive about sending children outside to study. The reason was not only that we couldn't afford it (because education is a ‘luxury'). We were the first generations that had ever even seen a school. We were often told stories about children from our caste who went outside to study and never returned alive; about how they were bullied, beaten up, killed or died by suicide. These stories are not unfounded. Cities can be alienating just as they provide homes for some of us. But there are possibilities in the anonymity that the city provides, even if negotiated with difficulty by some.

My presentation engages with the notion of ‘stuckness' in place and explores the radical power within stories of everyday survival, resilience, and hope. Building on queer, Dalit and working-class lives in Delhi, I explore creative modes through which life is made liveable by its inhabitants. And against histories of systemic violence, I explore how our existence itself becomes a mode of resistance.

Bio:
Dhiren Borisa is one of India's most well-known young Dalit, queer scholars and poets. He acquired a doctorate from Jawaharlal Nehru University for a thesis on Queer Cartographies of Desire in Delhi, in which he studied different Delhi spaces such as cruising parks and queer nightlife, massage parlours and LGBT activist forums. His path-breaking research highlighted the daily negotiations of caste, class and gendered hierarchies implicit in these queer spaces, pushing the field of Human Geography in South Asia to newer challenges posed by Queer and Anti-Caste Studies. He has previously taught at Miranda House, Delhi University. In addition to his academic interests, Dr. Borisa is also a practicing poet who performs his bilingual poetry in Hindi and English at public literary and activist fora on a regular basis. He is currently a Global Fellow (Education) in the School of International Relations at the University of St Andrews, and will be in residence during the month of November 2024.