DOI 10.60531/INSIGHTOUT.2024.2.9| GUHA: QUEERING CALCUTTA_ INSIGHTOUT 2(2024) 64 der poets’ meet. According to K. S. Rao, the secretary of Sahitya Akademi,“This is the first time that such a literary meet exclusively for transgender poets is being organized by Sahitya Academi” 9 and Kolkata was the first city to organise this meeting in India. Similar meets are planned for different parts of the country. However, the venues of those meets have not yet been decided. According to Manabi Bando­padhyay, the participating poets in this meet were numerous and included Aruna Nath, Debdatta Bis­was, Debajyoti Bhattacharya, Prosphutita Sugand­ha, Rani Majumder, and Shankari Mondol. Among them, Sugandha, a schoolteacher in a remote village of Bengal, offers a unique case of success. Working in a rural and semi-urban space it is usually difficult for her to disclose her transgender identity because of societal pressures, but at this poets’ meet she could state her identity openly alongside her queer group members. Her poem titled“Ekti Patar Mrityu”(Death of a Leaf) poignantly articulates her experiences of being queer. 10 Along with literature, in other aesthetic domains the queer community is forging niches. The city of Kolka­ta also started its first dance school for transgender people in June 2018. It was launched by the Asso­ciation of Transgender/Hijra of Bengal(ATHB). An­uradha Sarkar, a transgender member, said,“I had to become a Launda dancer[boy dancer dressed as a girl] to support my family. I faced sexual exploitation on many occasions so I hope this project will save me from a vulnerable life”. Sarkar, who is a graduate of Kathak and Bharatnatyam from Rabindra Bharati University faces refusal because of her sexual identi­ty irrespective of being trained and having degrees. She has had to travel to different states to perform at wedding ceremonies. 11 Queer placemaking in Kolkata Queer infrastructure in Kolkata is not just confined to the elite zones of literary festivals and official forums; in the quotidian space too, there are up­coming facilities and placemaking efforts. Special cafés and eateries exist for queer groups: 12 Amra Odbhut, which translates as“we are queer”, is a be­autiful café-cum-community centre in Kolkata run by queer people. Known for being an artistic haven for the queer community, Amra Odbhut is Kolkata’s first event space and eatery that publicly celebrates the LGBTQ+ community. The café aims to carve out an intersectional space and mitigate discrimination and prejudice by offering an inclusive location for free and creative expressions and the exchange of ideas between queer people and their allies. Similarly, a trans colour festival known as Trans Bo­sonto Utsav took place on 5 and 6 April 2019 at Ja­davpur University, Kolkata, in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania and supported by a Kol­kata organisation called Anandam. 13 It was a reac­tion against the Transgender Persons(Protection of Rights) Bill, which was passed in Lok Sabha in 2018. Celebrating the colour and rhythm of the transgen­der community for two days, this festival aimed to bu­ild confidence and resilience amongst its members. The event gave trans people an opportunity to come out in the open and showcase their talents. These myriad acts of placemaking are simultaneously com­9 P. Dasgupta,“Kolkata to host Sahitya Akademi’s transgender poets’ meet on July 17”, The Times of India, 11 Jul. 2018, http://timeso­findia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/64951875.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst(accessed 17 Jul. 2024). 10 Dasgupta,“Kolkata to host Sahitya Akademi’s transgender poets’ meet on July 17”(see n. 9). 11 S. Yengkhom,“Dreaming empowerment: A dance school for transgenders in Kolkata”, The Times of India, 2 Jul. 2018, http://timeso­findia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/64821641.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst(accessed 17 Jul. 2024). 12 https://www.holidify.com/pages/kolkata-cafe-377-3050.html(accessed 17 Jul. 2024). 13 https://www.kolkataanandam.org/trans-bosonto-utsab-2019(accessed 17 Jul. 2024).