Queer artistes and drag queens Jenny Jet Jigarthanda and Nethu Night Neelambari are offering a safe space with their myriad chats on the issues that mar the LGBTQIA+ community with their recently-launched podcast. As the ascent into the cloudless skies of possibilities, pride, and protest commences, a peppy welcoming announcement crackles: “This is JJJ and this is NNN, and you have boarded Wh0relines!”. Piloting the first queer Tanglish podcasts in the state, queer artistes and drag queens Nethu Night Neelambari and Jenny Jet Jigarthanda are picking up passengers and soaring across safe spaces during their one-hour-long episodes.
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In February this year, these celestial sisters launched Wh0relines, and ever since, they have unapologetically delved into topics like chosen family, pride marches, scary stories, and queer representation on shows and films. In times where being oneself is a protest, this podcast proves to be an anchor to hold onto and a map to navigate through turbulence with the reminder ‘you are not alone’. With this reassurance and safety belt, passengers can board their flight. As NNN and JJJ say, “Safe landing and enter-taint-ment is guarantea”.
NNN and JJJ patiently take us behind-the-scenes of the podcast.
Excerpts follow:
How did you start this podcast?
NNN: We are part of a group ‘Chennai Pride’ aka Orinam and… there one person suggested we start a podcast, a year ago. Even though we know and speak English, we didn’t feel connected and we didn’t hear podcasts in our language. In India and down south, people think differently. I haven’t listened to any other drag queens or anyone from the queer community here do something like this so we thought we should do it. My degree is media-oriented and since it is my forte, I didn’t need anyone else’s supervision.
JJJ: For the past two-three years, I was thinking of doing podcasts...With NNN, it’s semma fun when we usually talk. If we record and put it up, other listeners could also enjoy it, and they won’t feel alone. What if people want to listen to us, what we think, and what we do? We thought our thinking was rare and it felt organic and entertaining to be recorded. We didn’t start recording with any specific topic in mind.
How did the name of the podcast, and the idea of a flight originate?
JJJ: We decided to choose something that was a bit taboo and dramatic. If we’re starting a podcast, there should be some connectivity, and then we thought it would be interesting to get it with the name.
NNN: We joke around that we share one single brain cell. Whenever it clicks, we are at the peak of creativity and productivity. Like that, we were spewing words and it clicked. We started to create slogans, taglines, and imaginary world stuff. All LGBTQ+ people do that and this is probably on a larger scale.
Choosing Tamil makes it more accessible. Could you tell me more about that?
NNN: For Tamil people, if the language has 50 per cent English and even if they didn’t go to school, they would understand our podcast. Modern Tamil has English within and it has become Tanglish. We focussed mainly on making it unfiltered, we felt like we should not polish it. YouTube is slowly becoming like an IT presentation space. That mentality and space will put pressure on an artistic person. Already, there is so much pressure on being queer… Our earlier generation walked so we could run. We are doing the same thing so people in the future can start their own thing. We do not need name or fame because we don’t follow the mantra of heteronormative people. Our main goal is not getting a home, getting married, or having kids. It is living life, giving to people..and having a party without even going to a party.
JJJ:Tamil feels more natural because I’m translating Tamil to English (in my head), not the other way around. It would be nice to hear if people did (podcasts) in Tamil. It was like I wish I had something like this but if it is not going to happen, then we will make it ourselves.
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What is your ideation process like?
NNN: The secret sauce is that there is no secret sauce. We pre-plan what we’re going to speak about. But only after we finish recording, do we create topics that are clickbaity, creative, rhyming or inside jokes, and alliteration. I believe if I’m creating something, I need to present it as a whole package.
JJJ: If we are speaking for an hour or more than that, we need some (content) for that much time. The first podcast was on the series ‘Elite’. The show was trending and I wanted more people to see it because there was open queer representation from India in that series. So, if we started with that, there would be a nice takeoff and a smooth runway. The next episodes were about our life events, Bangalore Pride, and as it went on, it was about something we related to.
Who is your target audience? What would you want them to take away from it?
JJJ: In the overview, our audience is 55 percent male, 26 percent female, 18 percent non-specified, and 2 percent non-binary. It is mostly people who follow us on Instagram, and also queer people. There are listeners within the 18-22 and 22-27 age groups...Other podcasts which are in English feel fun but it does not feel relatable. For an Indian audience, it would feel more relatable as they would feel like they’ve visited this area. For queer people, if they hear about a specific area, they would feel more welcome in a place. Often, queer people feel like they should leave India and find a more comfortable space elsewhere. With our podcast, they would feel more included and comfortable making a living in India.
NNN: Our target audience is generally young queer people who don’t have a safe space. With headphones, they can listen and feel safe. I wish I had a podcast like this when I was young so that I would not hurt myself or would not have tortured myself that much. Most queer people, apart from facing physical abuse, have lost their childhood. Now, they can feel that there are two other crackheads who talk like you.
What’s next?
JJJ: We plan on bringing interesting guests onto our podcast. If possible, we would like to put audio and video on YouTube. It will allow us to perform drag and for other people to see our gestures. Now, season two has come and since it is June, we’re fired up and we might go deeper with some conversations. I’ve matured a lot since season one as a person.
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NNN: Our podcast was not an experiment, it was well-thought-out... our focus is to reach out to LGBT people… The more we speak, the more normal it is going to get. Like literature or verbal communication, it is the foundation for queer people in Chennai and that is what is going to help them build a roof...Recently, I learned Tanjore painting and I’m also currently writing songs. I was thinking about setting up a queer newspaper…or something like an annual or quarterly book so we have documentation. It is important to have documentation of queer people because cishet people easily erase them. This stuff gives proof of our existence. In a newspaper or the media, a queer story is just a snapshot. The newspaper has 20 pages but my life is in one small column. The same people ask me ‘Why are you putting everything as gay?’. Everything in a newspaper or music or film is straight. I am doing this because it is the 21st century and nobody else is doing it.
The podcast is available on Spotify.
Follow NNN and JJJ on Instagram: @nethu_night_neelambari and @jennyjetjigarthanda