Album looks at social issues through LGBTQ community's eyes

Pragya Pallavi in a still from the video for Girls You Rule

In 2016, Pragya Pallavi was bedridden for a while with a torn ligament. And around five years before that - encouraged by an American resident who she was then in a clandestine relationship with - she had come out to her family as a lesbian. It hadn't been an easy decision. Her mother and grandmother, for instance, had found it difficult initially to come to terms with her sexual orientation. But her father was on her side. Thus, within a month-odd, the matriarchs in the family showed her their support, too.

But coming back to her prostrate situation, Pallavi, at that phase in her life, had a lot of time to think. She had been trained in Indian classical music from the age of five, having been enrolled into an institution that her grandmother ran in Patna, which is where the family is from. And after her musical direction had taken a more western route, she had composed a song called Mama, a coming-out track of sorts. So, lying in bed with her torn ligament, Pallavi thought, "Why not extend the idea and come up with an EP that addresses the struggles that the LGBTQ community faces every day?"

That four-track EP is now in the process of being turned into a full-fledged album with nine songs in eclectic genres. It's called, rather aptly, Queerism. Two of the tunes from it - Lingering Wine and Girls You Rule - are already out. And when the full album releases, it will be the first one from India that tackles LGBTQ issues head on. But the roadblocks that the community faces aren't the only subject matter that Pallavi discusses in the lyrics. For, the fact is, outside of the everyday prejudice that they face due to their sexual orientation, LGBTQ people are also subjected to the same injustices that others in India are.

"There is a hip-hop song in the album that talks about social problems like religion, caste and sexism, because being a human being - regardless of whether you're a part of the [LGBTQ] community or not - there are many issues that we all have to fight together. And I want to educate people about the same through music. See, if you give someone a lecture, they might listen to you or they might not. But through music, or films, the public is entertained and educated at the same time," Pallavi tells us, adding, "So, I wanted to start a different conversation in the country. I don't know if I will succeed completely. But at least I can try."

Log on to Pragya Pallavi Official on YouTube

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates