Susmita Sinha

Two people from two poles. One is the complete opposite of the other. Not nineteen-twenty; This is like a difference of nineteen-forty-nine. But what happens when two people with different tastes and preferences come under the same roof? Love are like a jigsaw puzzle. Torn pieces, one does not match the size of the other. But the whole picture is made by combining those pieces sitting side by side. The difference is their match! Separation is the birth of their love!

…and the unclaimed delves into the aftermath of Swapna and Shucheta’s deaths, as well as the social conditions that led to their choice. “The unclaimed” refers both to the fact that neither of their families came forward to claim their bodies, but also to the tenuous state of existence of queer and trans folks in India. Interviews with Swapna and Shucheta’s families and neighbours are interspersed with the stories of ordinary Indian queer and trans people, as well as activists and advocates, all of whom are dealing with their own experiences of the label “unclaimed”, while fiercely fighting for their rights to live and love.

February, 2011. In a small village of West Bengal, two young women in love with each other―Swapna and Sucheta―took their own lives, leaving a letter claiming love, life, recognition… a letter challenging violence, hate, invisibilization.

A Hindu woman elopes with her Muslim lover, moving with him to Syria. Eventually separated by war, she cares for their handicapped child on her own.