Gender expression  at Halloween

HYDERABAD: Halloween in India is a counter-cultural festival which came to exist with the popularity of pop culture. With growing understanding of cosplay and drag the idea of Halloween has been quite widely celebrated for the past few years. Drag culture has an interlined with celebrating the festival. For the west, Halloween becomes every first time when someone dresses up in drag. So for many, Halloween becomes a safe space to explore their gender expression.

With the debate of its celebrations in India going on and off, spaces in India has been always open to accepting the idea of celebrating. Bhoota Chatusdashi is an Indian festival which is celebrated in a similar manner as Halloween. Indian spaces have always been celebrating the festival but due to Covid-19 and the lockdown, not many public spaces opened their doors.  On October 29, Hyderabad Drag Club in collaboration with Mobbera Foundation, curated its first event after eight months. It was organised at Sacred Earth Café in Madhapur.

The event saw a footfall of 100 people while following the safety norms. The event started with a session by Tousif Ahmad followed by a drag show by ‘Suffoacted Art Specimen’ aka Patruni Sastry.  After that, there were drag performances by Karan, Ahalya aka Rishi and Shaik Madan from the Mobbera Foundation.

The special attraction of the event was a magic show by Mynu. He used mentalism to add a spooky touch to the atmosphere. He used scary props such as a voodoo doll and blank paint to keep the audience entertained. After his session, he spread awareness on how magic is more technical and people should stop believing in superstitions and be self-aware.The event was followed a beatboxing performance by Rishab and a song by Praneet from the Nations Rock Beat and Patruni’s vote of thanks.