All-male love triangle in city's first LGBT comic

The medium is the message, says the Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender community, after launching a comic book to highlight issues that affect them

The Archie-Veronica-Betty love triangle is part of comic folklore, but in this comic offering, that love triangle may well feature a Raju-Santosh-Akshay. The Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) community in Mumbai has launched an illustrated comic book cleverly called, Ek Alag Chitra Katha, a spin off on the well-known Indian comic book series, Amar Chitra Katha. The grassroots comic book, as it is called, is in Hindi.u00a0

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The black and white comic features stories by and about Transgenders and MSM (Men who have Sex with Men). The project, a joint venture between the Non Governmental Organisation Humsafar Trust and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), came together after Sharad Kumar's (of World Comics India) recent three-day workshop at Humsafar's office in Vakola, Santacruz (E), where he trained grassroot workers in recounting anecdotes and sketching them.

"Each workshop participant grasped the idea quickly, and understood the medium. Their stories are informative with a personal touch. What they drew is powerful, even though none of the 15 participants are artists in the classic sense,"u00a0 Sharad says.

The word comic may be a bit of a misnomer, though. Most of these stories are more educative rather than outright laugh-out loud accounts. They bring on a chuckle and moments of quiet contemplation. The first story is about a love triangle featuring men in love with men, while another one illustrates the dangers of unprotected sex.

Urmi Jadhav, community counsellor with Humsafar says, "This is a powerful medium. And we think it is accessible to all, the not-so-highly educated especially, who find this easier to read and absorb." Urmi calls the grassroots Ek Alag Chitra Katha only the first step in what might become a cult comic series in future."We are going to persuade a handful of bookstores to stock these. Later, we can hopefully move on to other languages, better paper quality and visuals."

You can pick up a free copy of Ek Alag Chitra Katha from the Humsafar Trust office.
Call: 26673800 / 26650547 from 12 pm to 8 pm on weekdays for details.