Diversity, Discrimination and Intersectionality: Connecting with India

Photo features Agnese with colleagues from Global Policy Insight team,
Arpit Chaturvedi (left) and Raj Kishor Tiwari (right) outside Rashtrapati Bhavan, the presidential estate.

 

As I’m writing this, I’m fresh from seeing ‘Rajesh and Naresh’, a play by James Ireland addressing love in the aftermath of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in India in 2018. ‘Rajesh and Naresh’ is also a story about discrimination; the journey of a young British man of Indian heritage discovering his roots in Mumbai, while fighting a discriminatory work environment and potential partners who block him on dating apps the very moment they learn he is Indian.

The dialogue with his new lover, a 40-something Indian man, whose life is established in Mumbai, spots the multifaceted essence of diversity and discrimination brilliantly. When the young Londoner talks about his struggles and the lack of community because of the colour of his skin, the Indian man observes that he has no idea of how that should feel.

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