Foreword: Volume 1: Issue 1
Maya is a name affectionately selected for the ease through which it conveys complexity. ‘Love’ in Nepali, ‘illusion’ in Sanskrit, and many more meanings that it holds within its two syllables. What do we...
Maya Gender and Sexuality Magazine
Invisible Sexual Repression: Destabilising Foundational Norms [Book Review]
I write this short paper as a comment on Sara Mills and Michel Foucault’s works. Sara Mills analyses Foucault’s observations on sexuality from his book titled, ‘The History of Sexuality Volume 1’. This paper...
The L Word – A Ghazal
Such epistemic murk around the L word. Aren’t all trying to work around the L word? No Shireen for me, no Heer, I’m no Qais, Other desires too lurk around the L word. Jehangir’s...
Seeta Aur Geeta
[This artwork has been contributed by Mishika Chowdhary, law student, Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat. She is also the Creative Editor of Maya.] This is an adaptation of Kira Blake Schnitzler’s art work.
Section 377 and the Colonization of the Mind
Indeed, while it is popular today to condemn the period of the Muslim rule in India as regressive and narrow minded, attitudes towards homosexuality were far more progressive among Muslim rulers than the British...
Muana
(Muana has specific meaning in the context. Muana refers to the ‘place of origin’. In this poem, Muana is trying to locate herself in the society after accepting that she was a lesbian. It...
A Curious Case of Men’s Rights Activism – A Note on the #metoo Incident in JGU
The code of conduct of an ideal ‘bro’ includes celebrating the entitlement heterosexual men commonly share in talking about their girlfriends, hook ups and dates not in a manner that celebrates the agency of...
Hindu Marriage Act, 1955: A Queer Interpretation
Not just the narratives from the scriptures but also various priests hold a view in support of same-sex marriages. Like Shakuntala Devi in her work, “The world of Homosexuals” interviewed a priest from a...
Sydney: Same Sex Marriage Plebiscite Yes Campaign
These pictures have been contributed by Meenakshi Ramkumar, law student at Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat. She is also the Editor of Maya. Meenakshi participated in Sydney’s “Yes” campaign for marriage equality plebiscite during her...
Call Me ‘They’: What It’s Like To Live Without A Gender
I needed to reflect the ‘agendered individual’, not as someone who was starkly different from the way the men characterize themselves in appearance, but someone who looks just like them. I wanted to take...
Emancipation
[This artwork has been contributed by an anonymous student at O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat.]
Pride Parade: Gurgaon
[These pictures have been contributed by Mishika Chowdhary, law student, Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat. She is also the Editor of Maya.]
The Ugly Grizzly Bear
I genuinely wanted to know if boys hated their body hair like most women do or are conditioned to do. I asked most of my male friends. All of them replied in a very...
You Never Come Out When I Ask You To
You make it look like you’re in all the way You never refuse when I ask you to stay It’s more than just a bond; it’s a connection so deep I know that when...
Signal
I sensed it, With no assurance, If you do, Next time, Stroke your left brow, With your right hand. [This post was contributed under the pen name KOS KOS.] Feature Image: Marc Anthony Macon,...
Enough
The tip of my pen does not write the words I feel, I end up writing a dozen times- I love you, I love you. I wonder if these three words explain my feelings...
Rum and Samosa
Bundles of Navy shore black bracelet and a holy red thread in one hand. She had an expressionless expression. She slept with different boys every night and made coffee for them, to leave. She...
Bringing Down The Ivory Tower
What crime did a Transgender do? Imagine living in a body that isn’t you. Fundamental rights and entitlements apply to us too, Humiliation and marginalization because we’re just a minoritized few? Lying in wait...
