With the headline, we are not trying to step on anyone’s toes but quoting directly from Yogi and Kabeer, a couple who host Shuddh Desi Gay, a Spotify Original in Hinglish on the podcast. The same sex couple, who have been together over six years and are currently in a long distance relationship with little succour for the moment (thanks COVID-19) are finding their peace, and hopefully reaching out to peeps, through Shuddh Desi Gay.
While they may complement each other, the two are also very aware that they live in a country which doesn’t have the greatest record in respecting minorities, with the non-heterosexual community especially being neither seen nor heard. It is also why they refuse to divulge their surnames. “We have been through quite the ride over the course of our relationship, and as RJs and people with a background in media as well as a same sex couple, we realised if we don’t speak up, no one will,” says Delhi-based Kabeer, while stressing, “We have said this before, and we are saying it again, we are not doing this podcast to be in the activist-y zone. We are telling our story, which is as normal as any other story.”
“It’s a story of boy meets boy, and that’s about it,” completes Yogi, mentioning as an aside that Kabeer is basically his desi foreign boyfriend, given that Yogi is more comfortable in Hindi while Kabeer is more of an Anglophone. “This is the first queer conversation between a gay couple in ‘desi’ language, a mixture of Hindi and English, which is accessible to everyone,” says Yogi, noting, “I could never play English podcasts for my mom earlier, because I’d have to pause and translate every line in the middle. With this format, we can have an actual conversation with local references which listeners can identify with.”
“The thing is, with this podcast and us sharing our own experiences on it, we want this to be accessible to and resonate with others from around the country. We always want this podcast to make sense to everyone from your bai to a CEO. Mujhe Japan ya US mein humara podcast nahin badana, par Indore aur Chhattisgarh mein (I don’t want to promote our podcast in Japan or the US, but in Indore and Chhattisgarh), where there’s a need. We want people to see that we are not comic relief for someone else’s story. We are the heroes of our own.”