Kolkata's British Council hosts panel discussion celebrating International Women's Day

The panel discussion, which was moderated by Sreyashi Ghosh, an international poet and artist and gender and human rights activist, had  Niladri Chatterjee, Dept. of English, University of Kalyani; culinary commentator blogger and LQBTQ++ torchbearer Rukshana Kapadia; and documentary filmmaker Subha Das Mollik as panellists.

Talking about women's voices in society, Rukshana Kapadia said, "I think voices change over time and influences. The voices spoken and projected at 15 are very different from mine at 50."

"And I think you evolve, as does your voice, based on your journey and the people who come into your life for better or for worse and define who you end up wanting to be and choosing to be," she said.

"So voices are important for people like us as they encourage people and give them strength," Rukshana added.

Chatterjee, approaching it from a different angle, said, "Instead of talking about the voice I can talk about the listener? So when I am speaking, I can very well say that I'm trying to be very clear about what I'm trying to say."

"But what are you hearing? And I think that is rather interesting because what you hear can become very selective, no matter how clear I am with my message," the professor said.

On same-sex marriage in Indian context, Rukshana said, "I don't think I'll ever need a piece of paper or a ceremony to make me think of my partner as the very best part of my soul."

"But tomorrow, if it gets legal, I will definitely walk into a courthouse, holding her hand, and sign up on that paper. Just so that I know if I need to take care of her or if she needs to take care of me and I will be able to give her the dignity and respect that she's earned and deserves as my partner," she said.

(Reporting by Ayush Gupta)