Sumiran Kabir Sharma / India
“I believe we play different characters every day and our life is like a film. And I have played characters when I have worked for corporate houses and an IT-BPO and dressed up in the most heterosexual clothes ever. You have to live it to realize that you do not want any part of it. Otherwise, you will never value your present self. Now I wear a saree or a backless top and take the metro and I am very cool with it. It has taken me years to identify these layers and accept my true self. In the end, it’s about fighting for your identity and what you believe in. When I did my first nude shoot, my dad blocked me on social media because he did not understand it. Usually people say that I do it to get attention; they say that for people who are different but it’s not at all about that. Sometimes I wear a burqa or a hijab and step out and it’s like a whole new world for me. Usually people watch me when I walk down the street but when I am in a burqa, no one looks at me but I am looking at everyone. The way people look at you changes.”
