Queer Pride enthralls with ‘Taaro maaro prem chhe’ in Lucknow

LUCKNOW: City’s Lohia Park never looked so colourful before as on Sunday when members of Awadh Queer Pride Committee as well as supporters of the LGBTQ community assembled at the park’s amphitheatre to mark the 5th Awadh Queer Pride.
At 1pm the giant rainbow flag made its way to the front of the crowd, colourful rainbow batches and glittery masks were distributed amongst the people and curious bystanders, and dhol beats egged the crowd forward to take part in the event.

This year’s pride event was markedly different from previous ones. For the first time instead of organising a pride march, this time the committee members decided upon Queer Pride event, due to the pandemic, filled with dance performances, stand-up comedy, stalls and games. Members wearing colourful scarves and headgears, saris and trousers draped in colours of rainbow, expressed their unparalleled pride through poems and performance. Prateek Vats, a participant at the event, recited a personal composition, while Alex enthralled the audience with dance moves.
Many visitors and people looking from outside the park were greeted with incessant drumming of dhols and chants from the parade, ranging from ‘Azaadi’, and the Gujarati slogan ‘Taaro Maaro Prem Chhe, Same Chhe, Same Chhe’.