CELEBRATION

Who’s glowing now?

Darkness falls

Night deepens

It envelopes me

I see nothing

Shadows whisper

Evil words

I tremble

Whispers become louder

Fag

Slut

Sex maniac

Devil

They pierce my ears

Pierce my soul

I beg them to stop

I run

Into the arms of darkness

Where?

I don’t know

They follow

My eyes tear up

Heart weeps

Is it my fault?

They scream yes

I yell no

A light twinkles

No I scream again

The light twinkles again

This is how I was born

This is who I am

Darkness thins

Twinkles hover over me

I stop

Turn back

They accuse me no more

I smile

I love me

And you can’t stop me

From being myself

From loving myself

From celebrating my sexuality

Twinkles become fireflies

They sit on my skin

Look, I ask

Who’s glowing now?

poem by inderjit nagi

Celebration is a queer-themed series about celebrating your existence into the body you’re born in. It’s about loving yourself for who you are and accepting yourself for what you are.

The usage of male form with a string of lights, garlands, bracelets or fabric adorning it depicts the mood of celebration, seen extensively during festivals. Akin to places of worship decorated on auspicious occasions, the body being one’s temple is adorned with various celebratory elements, ready to embrace its true self.

My photographs are about celebrating our own existence into this body and hereafter irrespective of who we are and what we are.

The usage of male form is conscious that need to convey the hidden trait of it. The string of lights glowing across the body, very similarly to the city or place decked up with string of lights, like the strings of glowing jasmine, for the upcoming festival, resemble the worship of our body as a temple.