On the last Sunday of January, a motley crew gathered at a recently renovated house in Kolkata’s Jadavpur area. At first sight, you might have dismissed it as just another house party. But this wasn’t any ordinary party. It was Queer Evening, an evening for members of the LGBTQ community to meet, greet and eat together. Operational in a renovated family home, Amra Odbhuth is the brainchild of a group of friends looking for a queer-friendly place. Leading the pack are Upasana, a queer activist and artist who organises Take Back the Night, Kolkata, and Nandini Moitra, a queer activist and artist. They are joined by Raina Roy, a veteran trans activist and one of the co-founders of Samabhabona (an organisation working to empower the grassroot LGBTQ community), where Upasana and Nandini also work, and Pritam Bhaumik, an academic, writer, and secret artist. There’s also 17-year-old Abhimanyu who handles all the difficult, not so fun aspects of managing the space.

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