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Becoming Sanjina: The Hyphenated Journey of a Trans-Indo-Fijian-Woman from Vancouver to Toronto
Written by Felicia Gopi
“As it is, right now, if you look at the world: drag shows are being banned, all of us trans girls, trans folks in general are being targeted.”
Sanjina (she/her) aka Sanjina DaBish Queen, is a charismatic drag queen who is determined to bring Bollywood dance to the forefront of the community courtesy of her Indo-Fijian roots - a heritage that she is undoubtedly proud of.
Through organizing our sit down together it was clear that the star of Call Me Mother’s first season is booked and busy. Not only does she dream of bringing her art of performing to top stages like Rupaul’s Drag Race, she also dreams of creating pathways to success for future generations who are interested in the art of drag. ...Read More
Written by Rajiv Mohabir
I have always been haunted by the traumas of my creation story. I come from an East Indian, Guyanese community that was colonized, indentured, and forcefully displaced by the British colonial machine from 1838 to 1917. The story of the overseer’s whip still cracks, still torments my family, albeit in steadily modernizing ways now that we live in the United States. One trauma is the gradual forgetting of our language and the taking of English as Eucharist. Our poetry recedes into the darkness of obscurity. I relearn my Aji’s language to heal my white scars, to join the broken earth of my body with queer light.
Like many West Indians, I did not grow into a family that spoke a South Asian language consistently. My ears, however, were attuned to the phonetic structures of the Hindi and Caribbean Bhojpuri of the music that scratched its high pitch across our living room. My parents did not speak much of it and only mimicked the Ram Ram and Pranam that they learned from their own parents, who were fluent in a culture that my parents’ generation ran away from, packing their suitcases filled with collections, British poetry, Western clothes, and rum. On Saturday mornings nostalgia and longing for back-home, despite their earlier abandonments, smote their hearts with its hurricane force winds.
I grew to learn the words to Hindi songs like “He, Neele Gagna Ke Tale” before I knew the meaning: Beneath the blue sky…
Written by Ryan Ramsahoye & Tasneem Yassen
As my eyes opened on a Saturday morning, I could already hear the bhajans, or the latest bollywood soundtrack coming from the stereo. This was my alarm clock. Growing up, music was always around me. I remember spending Sunday afternoons as a child by my grandparents house in Ajax watching Bollywood movies and music videos with all my cousins as our parents socialized in the other room.
Dance has played an important role in my life. I grew up in a very musically and artistically inclined family. I began dancing at a very young age . At first, I was just performing as part of family functions. Dance was just something I tolerated since it was a fun way to hang out with my family and spend more time together. But as I aged, I slowly started to realize how I was able to express myself through dance in ways words never could. Over time it developed into a passion that allowed me to learn more about who I was and fully understand my culture and heritage. ...Read More
Brittany Singh on Lesbian Visibility and Leaving a Legacy
Written by Rebecca Dass
“Growing up, I never saw anyone that looked like me talking about their sexuality. Hopefully, some of our followers who may be young or who may be going through difficult times with their sexuality [can see] that there are people who look like them, have those identities, and can also be successful.”
This pride month, I got to speak with Brittany Singh, 27, a Student-at-Law, J.D. based in Ottawa, Ontario. Brittany went to Law school at UOttawa and did her undergrad in Political Science at Queens University. Identifying as lesbian, Brittany does tremendous work for EPIC, a program within the Indo-Caribbean Canadian Association (ICCA) dedicated to LGBTQ2S+ Indo-Caribbean people. ...Read More
Story is an Indo-Caribbean newsletter designed to bring Canadian Caribbean culture to the forefront. Explore Indo-Caribbean news, identity, and culture online.