From the Pen of Lopa

India, the land of colors, has opposed the rainbows for too long just like many other nations. It is a country where people are unable to accept Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer community for their preferences. The common dialogues floating around the societies include, “oh look, how is he speaking and dressed’, “why is she dating a girl” or going down to the foolish thoughts of men wearing pink is ‘gay’ and so on. Yes, incredible India is not that incredible for the LGBTQ community at all. This is why coming out of the closet is not something that is very common, owing to the honor killings and hate crimes done in the name of genders and faiths. The previous generations might not accept or acknowledge the beauty of love in this form. Not the previous generations alone, but even the current generations spew venom against such relations, calling them names and sharing nothing but hatred against them. Sometimes, they argue by bringing in culture and history in...

What are the criteria for success? A well-paying job, savings, assets, loving family and luxuries. If you consider these as a success, yes, I had them all and hence could be considered as a successful lady, striving towards more and more. Coming from the least known district of Rayagada - Odisha, I believed that staying back in the town won’t fulfill my larger than life dreams. Just like any other motivated youth, I moved out to achieve them, crossing one goal after another. I traveled, learned, studied and worked from Delhi to London, to Greece and back to Delhi. Check-marking almost everything in my dream list, a thought struck my mind that I could go out to achieve my dreams, but how many did actually get the opportunity of chasing their dreams? Every year, we see people migrating from rural to urban areas, in search of better education, amenities, jobs and much more. There surely would be cases of people who made it large, but unfortunately, not everyone succeeds in achi...