Festival Host, Kolkata
KIAAN DEY : I am Kiaan and I finished my Bachelor's of Arts in Bengali Honours from Calcutta University in 2022, while simultaneously engaging in my passion for art and design. I have worked at Flipkart as a delivery person, and in the departments of sorting and Telecalling. I have been a freelancer artist, working extensively for the past 7 years in poster making, pottery, art, and painting. Eager to be a part of discourses on trans and queer rights, I have joined Sappho for Equality in the capacity of a field worker from July 2024, acting as a direct bridge between the organisation and the LGBTQ+ community.
ANJUM KHATUN (SHE/HER) : I Identify as a cis woman, who has wanted to build a career in makeup since I was 15. After completing school education till 8th, I had to drop out due to various psychosocial pressures from home. I worked at a boutique, stitching designer dresses for two years.. From the year 2022, I have started making video content and uploading them on YouTube and Instagram. Slowly and steadily, my follower base grew, and I have reached 39K followers, with which I have started earning money doing what I love.
Hosted by Anjum and Kiaan, Mentored by Titas
Kolkata, West Bengal
Ramdhonu is a festival where we bring together all kinds of people—just like the rainbow, full of colours, full of diversity. We believe this gathering is about more than just stories; it’s about shifting perspectives and helping others see beyond labels and gender identity. The struggles and journeys of those in the LGBTQ community—people who have been forced to leave their homes, challenged societal norms, and fought to live authentically—are at the heart of this festival.
Through our films and discussions, we raised awareness, fostered empathy, and united people from all walks of life. Our stories are colourful, each unique, yet woven together by a common thread of resilience, love, and survival.
After the digital stories were shown we had an engaging panel discussion. Unlike many intellectual heavy discussions that I have seen generally in panels, this was a spontaneous conversation by leading personalities of LGBTQIA++ movement about their points of relatability with the digital stories. More than the content and struggles that I had seen to be taking the forefront of conversation, in case of “Randhanu” storybeings; the conversation went about the role of digital storytelling in empowering marginalised communities. All panelists agreed that in the digital era of civilisation, empowering participants of marginalised communities with the tool of digital storytelling is the essential step for agency building. Pairing with examples from their personal stories this encouraging discussion and participation of more than a 100 people including people from the trans community.
.- Titas, Mentor